The Sun Soul
by 50caliberchaos
Summary: The world is a dangerous, violent place, and mankind vies for its very existence on a planet prowled by terrifying monsters and powerful creatures. Ash of Pallet Town, a talented trainer, knowing this all too well, sets out to change everything.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello and welcome everyone to what I hope will change from a simple experiment to something much, much, more enjoyable. You see, I recently had this thought lodge itself in my brain that Pokémon as a series has amazing potential that is virtually untapped by the anime/manga/etc.

So, here is my take on the idea of Pokémon… or the first chapter of it at least.

* * *

Chapter 1 – A Brave New World

"Help! Somebody, help me!" the little boy screamed at the top of his lungs. "Pleeease!" He came tearing through the tall grass, running for his life back towards Pallet Town. Ash cried out as his foot sank to the ankle in a puddle of mud and he toppled forward, landing hard on his hands and knees and scraping his palms.

"Oh great," he choked, turning over and jerking his foot out of his shoe. He planned to abandon the shoe and get back to his feet, but as Ash turned forward again the golden grass in front of him rustled and he froze. Two purple eyes glared at him from the grass and Ash pushed himself backwards. "Get back!" he shouted, his voice cracking with fear as he grabbed hold of a wooden stick lying in the grass.

The Rattata spat a hissing scream as it leapt from the grass, hurling itself at Ash's neck, mouth open and fangs bared to bite. "Get away!" Ash yelled, swiping with the stick through the air and smacking the Rattata squarely on the side of the head, knocking it to the ground. Ash rolled and pushed himself to his feet as the purple rodent, dazed, shook itself to regain its senses. Ash took off running, but toppled forward again as the Rattata lunged after him, closing the gap between them in an instant and sinking its chisel-sized incisors into Ash's calf, cutting through his jeans as though they were rice-paper.

He screamed as he fell, collapsing on his stomach and dropping his club. The Rattata, hissing like a demon, buried its teeth deeper into Ahs's left leg and shook its head as though it were trying to rip the muscle away from the boy's bones. In all likelihood this was not far from the case. Ash flailed his leg and kicked with his other foot, crying and desperately trying to free himself of the little Pokémon. His right foot connected solidly with its skull and drove it off him, though the action also further opened the already gaping wound in his leg.

Ash rolled onto his back, looking for the stick to defend himself, but could only raise one arm in front of his throat as the Rattata jumped at him yet again. This time the huge teeth sliced through Ash's forearm from both top and bottom. The Pokémon closed its mouth around Ash's arm and began jerking its head from one side to another as it had on his leg, tearing open Ash's arm and spattering both Pokémon and human in drops of blood.

A huge grey hand jutted out of the grass, so large that when it closed around the Rattata the feral rodent looked even to Ash like a toy. When the thick fingers closed around the Pokémon with crushing force the animal immediately released Ash. Its eyes bulged as the hand, which Ash saw was connected to a another Pokémon stepping out of the grass, slammed into a fist, crushing the rodent with a sloshing crunch as bones snapped and internal organs burst like rotten fruit.

"Chaaamp," growled the large, four-armed Pokémon as it emerged from the grass and tossed aside the dead Rattata's deformed remains. It looked down at him, white eyes full of uncertainty.

"Stay back!" the little boy cried, irrational with fear even though he recognized the Pokémon as his grandfather's Machamp. "Go away!"

"Ash!" a man's voice called out of the grass. "Ash where are you!?"

"Grandpa!" Ash screamed, finally realizing the true extent of the pain searing through his arm and his leg. "Grandpa! Help me!"

The Machamp stepped aside, still alert and scanning the surrounding tall grass for trouble, as a tall man with graying brown hair and a white lab coat came bursting through the grass. On either side of him two large Pokémon followed quickly, each as equally wary of their surroundings and as watchful of the old man as the Machamp.

"Merciful gods, Ash, what happened to you?" barked Professor Oak, pulling his backpack around and setting it on the ground as Ash continued crying and clutching at his wounds. "Never mind," said the professor as he took bandages, gauze, and sterile wipes from his pack. "You three," he turned to the Pokémon under his command, "set up around us. I don't want any surprises."

The Machamp, the green and lumbering Venasaur, and the golden-furred Kadabra all acknowledged him with varying degrees of understanding and took up positions around Professor Oak as he set himself to sterilizing Ash's deep gashes, punctures, and scratches and stopping the bleeding as best he could. The Venasaur took a few rumbling steps forward to where the mangled Rattata lay, and rolled the cadaver around for a moment with its thick snout. The Kadabra shook its head in disgust as Venasaur pinned one half of the Rattata under one heavy foot and bit off the upper portion of the rodent.

Oak ignored Venasaur's noisy lack of decorum and focused all his attention on Ash. "Don't go off into the wilds by yourself again," said Oak as he tied off the already reddening bandages around Ash's arm. "We need to get you back to town where I can have a look at you in the lab."

"I'm sorry grandpa," said Ash, sniffling as Oak picked him up and carefully swung the boy onto his back. "I'm really really sorry."

"It's alright," said Oak, hurrying over to Venasaur and stepping up onto the creature's back. He sat and leaned against the huge flowering plant growing out of the Pokémon's back and set Ash in front of him, holding the little boy securely. "Let's get back to town as quickly possible," Oak addressed the three Pokémon escorts loudly but very politely. "Please try to be as observant as you can be."

All three Pokémon acknowledged the Professor and began walking quickly South. Venasaur was in the middle, while Kadabra and Machamp walked along the green behemoth's flanks. "Grandpa?" Ash said after a few minutes had passed and he'd managed to stop sniffling and hiccupping.

"Hmm?" acknowledged Oak. "What is it?" he asked, not unkindly.

"Will you teach me to be as strong as you are? You're not afraid of anything and even really strong Pokémon will obey you," he glanced from side to side at the Machamp and the Kadabra. "I want to be just like you…"

Oak smiled a very little to himself. "Absolutely," he said and then paused. "You're turning six in a couple of days, aren't you?"

Ash nodded and grinned. The pain in his limbs had begun to subside now thanks to the numbing effects of the antiseptics Oak had applied to the gauze and bandages. "Two days," he said. "And what I want for my birthday is for you to teach me everything in the world to know."

"That's a tall order," said the Professor. "But I'll see what I can do." Oak sighed and settled against Venasaur's plant, keeping one arm around his grandson and the other hand positioned to grab one of the pokeballs magnetically held to his belt at a second's notice. _The first thing you need to know you learned just today_, thought the Professor. _The world is not a kind or forgiving place, and you need to know what you're doing if you want to stand a chance of surviving it… especially when Pallet Town is so far from the protection of a Gym…_

SC

Daylight had just broken over the tops of the trees surrounding Pallet Town. It was another temperate spring morning in the small settlement and Ash had just begun to stir from his sleep when the dawn's rays spilled through his window and illuminated his bedroom. He sat up in bed and stretched, opening his eyes and glancing around his meticulously kempt room. "Good morning," he said to himself, getting out of bed and turning around to straighten the sheets and comforter, "and happy birthday to me." He grinned and walked across the off-white carpet to the bathroom and cleaned up, taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth, and then getting dressed in his usual attire of jeans, a black T-shirt, and of course, the ball cap his mother had given him last year for his fifteenth birthday.

He laced up his six-inch leather boots, grabbed his backpack and keys, and headed downstairs, pausing at the bottom landing for a moment to rub at his calf and let the dull aching subside. It had been almost exactly a decade since he'd received that scar from the Rattata in the wilds outside Pallet Town, but still it occasionally bothered him. As he'd quickly learned to do though, he shook it off and went on as though not a thing in the world was wrong.

"Good morning mom," said Ash, strolling into the kitchen and immediately spotting his mother standing in front of the refrigerator and rummaging through its contents.

The woman turned around and smiled warmly, brushing her hands down her apron and closing the metal door. "Good morning birthday boy," she said happily. "And how are you doing this fine morning?"

Ash grinned and crossed the kitchen. He gave his mother a hug and a quick and affectionate kiss on the cheek. "I'm heading over to Grandpa's lab," he said. "The old man said he would have some big surprise waiting for me if I showed up first thing in the morning." He turned and grabbed a piece of toast from a plate beside a glass of juice on the counter and took a bite.

"I really wish you'd let me make you a proper breakfast," said his mother as Ash finished the toast and drank down the juice. "Just because you and Grandpa survive on hardtack and water when you're in the field doesn't mean you have to live like a marine when you're at home."

"I've gotten used to the lifestyle," said Ash, grinning.

"I suppose I should have seen it coming," said the woman, feigning exasperation and walking to the sink where she began to rinse off the plates he'd left there the night before. "You're too much like my dad's side of the family."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," said Ash, giving his mother another quick hug before turning and heading for the living room. "A Spartan lifestyle and mindset are the best thing a trainer can have in this kind of world. Out here on the frontier we can't afford to be as soft and," he pantomimed an aristocrat, sticking his nose in the air and squinting his eyes, "sophisticated."

"I know I know," laughed his mother. "Just remember that you're not a trainer just yet, you don't have your own Pokémon."

"I'm betting that will change today," Ash said enthusiastically as he crossed the living room, waved goodbye, and opened the front door. "I'll see you later!"

Ash's mother waved back and wished her son the best of luck as he stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Ash took out his keys and locked the door; securing both of the deadbolts and the lock on the doorknob itself, before turning around and looking out over the small village of Pallet Town.

Most of the settlement was nestled between two tall hills on the Eastern and Western sides of the village, but some of it, Ash's house for example, spilled up the sides of the hills. To the South there was a small beach, and to the North, separated from Pallet Town only by a rudimentary wooden palisade at the base of lesser, but still sloping hill, was the wilderness path of Route 1. Overgrown with tall golden grass, and disappearing into a thick forest farther north, a single road left the village and wound its way into the wilderness.

Turning South, Ash quickly spotted his grandfather's laboratory. Being that it was the largest building in the town and that it was the closest building to the coast, the lab was impossible to miss, and Ash, having walked the road leading down his side of the hill, passed the few other houses, hundreds of times, arrived at the laboratory only a few minutes later. He'd passed no one on his way, but in the sleepy little community that was not uncommon. At this time of day the only people who would truly be up and about would be Ash, Professor Oak, and whoever Oak had posted at the town's gate to keep watch.

The steel door set in the side of the stone building's North wall slid open even as Ash raised his hand to knock, and a short woman carrying a leather pack on her back came shuffling out. She nearly barreled into Ash, but the teenage boy nimbly stepped aside, and even held out his arm to catch the woman in the lab coat as she tried to quickly to stop and tripped.

"Oh, Ash," said the flustered aid. "I'm sorry about that. Your grandfather is inside working."

"Thanks Aisha," said Ash as the Aid righted herself. "Is he very busy?"

"Not too busy to speak with you I'd imagine," said Aisha in her chirpy tone. "But if you'll excuse me I'm a bit rushed and must be going."

Ash nodded and Aisha quickly set off into town after suddenly remembering the day and wishing Ash a quick happy birthday. The boy stepped into the laboratory and shut the front door, hearing the lock automatically click behind him. The sterile looking interior of the building looked the same as it always did, polished white floors made of what Ash had always thought was marble glimmered a little in the light filtering through the numerous skylights overhead. Large machines too complex to describe in a single pass beeped and flickered as little lights here and there went off, forming natural little sections of the warehouse which served as one of the most advanced centers of research in the country. Professor Oak must have sent the other aids out to into the town for various tasks as the building was ostensible empty.

"Grandpa!" Ash shouted, his voice echoing in the building. "It's me! Where are you?"

Ash heard a racket from off near the back of the building and what sounded like a large pile of papers fluttering to the floor. He grinned and walked off in that direction, quickly coming back to the little space, which served as Oak's office, hidden away between two especially large devices. Professor Oak looked up from where he knelt on the floor straightening and gathering up papers and a few books which had toppled to the floor and welcomed his grandson.

"I swear I was only taking a short nap," said the Professor good naturedly as Ash got on one knee and helped pick up the mess. "I wasn't sleeping on the job."

"Everybody needs to sleep Grandpa," said Ash as he and the Professor set the papers and books back up on the table. "Even superheroes like you get tired every now and then."

"Bah," Oak scoffed, running a hand through his now almost completely grey hair. "Nonsense, I'm glad you're here so early though. I wanted to give you your birthday present before it got too late in the day," said the old man, cutting to the point. "Follow me."

Oak turned and lead Ash out of the nook of an office and across the laboratory, stopping in front of a large machine with glass doors closing off what looked like a walk-in closet of sorts. Oak opened one of the doors and gestured for Ash to go in, then followed his grandson into the room.

"So which one are we going to be working with today?" asked Ash, looking at the pokeballs carefully held in little glass cabinets secured along the walls. "And where are we off to?"

"We're not going anywhere today," said the Professor, walking over to one cabinet in particular and pulling the small glass door open. "I'm not going to make you do fieldwork on your birthday. He took a pokeball from its place, closed the door, and turned back to Ash. Both left the room and walked back to the front of the lab, into the open area in front of the main door.

"Enough with the secrets," Ash grinned, positive he knew what was going on. "What's up?"

Oak handed Ash the single pokeball, and smiled. "We've been working together for a decade, you and I. We've done fieldwork together, gotten ourselves into some pretty tight situations, and together we've managed to pull ourselves right back out. I think you've earned the right to be called a trainer," said Oak as Ash took the pokeball. "And I think it's only appropriate that your first Pokémon should be the one with which you most closely bonded under my training."

"No way!" Ash exclaimed, a huge smile breaking his face. "This is too awesome!" he threw the pokeball high in the air, nearly striking the ceiling of the laboratory. "Pikachu! Come on out!"

Oak grinned and watched as the red and white pokeball popped open in midair and the radiant white energy of the enclosed Pokémon shot down to ground level and coalesced into the familiar form of the mousy creature. As soon as it was solid enough to move and even before it had completely taken on all of its yellow color, Pikachu cast about to get a feel for its surroundings and, having spotted Ash immediately, leapt at him with a squeak of delight.

Catching the Pokémon and pulling it into an embrace, Ash turned to Professor Oak and held up one arm to let Pikachu crawl up onto his shoulder. "You're the best in the world Grandpa," said the new trainer before he went on to thank the professor over and over. Pikachu, still beaming, crawled from one of Ash's shoulders to the other and back again.

"It really is my pleasure," said the Professor as he crossed his arms. "You have a natural strength about you that Pokémon just seem to sense and respect. And it only makes sense. You and Pikachu have been working as partners for…" he paused to think, "wow, almost five years now. And in that time you've proven to me beyond any doubt that you two naturally understand each other and work well together. Pikachu was already your Pokémon," said Oak, to which the little yellow Pokémon nodded the affirmative. "I'm only making it official."

"Still," said Ash. "This is the most amazing day of my life. How did you get Pikachu to agree to stay in that pokeball though? I could never convince him to even get near one." Again Pikachu nodded, as though to point out that it was going to stay that way from now on.

_I think the most amazing day of your life is still to come,_ thought Oak. "It took some doing," he said. "I had to scrape and beg," he gave the Pokémon a wink. "But when I said it was for your birthday he agreed."

"Too cool," said Ash, turning to Pikachu. "But from here on in, no more pokeballs for you. You don't get to lounge around and do nothing." He turned back to Oak. "My career as a trainer starts today! I'm going out to Route 1 to see what I can catch." Ash started for the door.

"Easy," said Oak, walking behind his grandson and following him out of the lab and into the morning sunlight. "Don't go too far from town and make sure you're back before dark," he went on, sounding more and more like a parent.

"I've only got one pokeball," said Ash, "so there wouldn't be a point in being gone too long anyway. I'm probably just going to catch a Rattata or a Pidgey. They're the only Pokémon around here as is."

"Supplies?" Oak shouted after Ash as his grandson took off running down the main road of the village, Pikachu following right beside him.

"More than enough!" Ash shouted back, waving one hand and pointing with his thumb to his backpack. "See ya later Grandpa!" Ash rounded a corner and disappeared into Pallet Town.

"Wow…" Oak sighed, leaning against the side of the laboratory. "To have that kind of energy again…" He turned around and went back inside, running his hand through his grey hair. "At least he knows what he's doing, even if he does get a little excited," muttered the Professor. And it was true, Oak reasoned, to think that Ash was one of the brightest pupils he'd ever trained which was saying a lot given that one of Oak's former pupils had gone on to claw his way to the top of Indigo Plateau.

SC

"Remember," Ash said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he and Pikachu crept through the tall golden grass overgrowing Route 1, "we're aiming to stun here. I know how you like to show off but try to not to turn the first Pokémon we run across into charcoal."

A quiet combination of a growl and a hiss slipped from Pikachu as the Pokémon neither affirmed nor ignored the suggestion. Ash shook his head once, knowing that as far as this particular Pikachu went, that was all the more answer he was going to get. "Thunderwave should be the first thing we use," Ash said. When Pikachu acknowledged him, he let the subject drop and let the Pokémon, whose senses far surpassed his own, focus on the surrounding environment.

For the next several hours, Ash and Pikachu crept slowly North, remaining quiet and exercising extreme caution as the proceeded. More than once Ash remarked to himself on the oddity of finding absolutely nothing, not a Rattata or a Pidgey or anything, prowling the paths of Route 1. A strong wind rose out of the East and the sun passed the halfway point of its trek through the sky before Ash and Pikachu stopped for a brief respite under one of the outermost trees of a small patch of forest jutting up in the vast sea of grassland.

"This is just weird," said Ash, sitting down with his back to the tree and setting his pack beside him. Pikachu scampered nimbly up into the branches of the tree to get a brief look around, disturbing no living thing in the process, before running back down to the ground as Ash pulled from the pack one of the plastic wrapped seedcakes he took with him on his excursions into the wild. "We must be halfway to Viridian by now," continued the trainer, unwrapping the hard seedcake and breaking off one corner for Pikachu, "and we haven't seen so much as a Spearow."

Pikachu squeaked in response and set to nibbling on the seedcake as Ash bit off a mouthful for himself. "We should probably tell the Professor about this when we get back," Ash continued after taking a drink from the canteen strapped to his pack. "And we should probably be getting back soon." He looked up at the sky and put the plastic wrap back in his bag and stood up, having finished the seedcake. "I don't feel like spending the night in Viridian."

Sacrificing some of their previous caution for quicker movement, Ash and Pikachu began the journey back to Pallet Town, stopping only when Pikachu froze by a small thicket just off the Western side of what passed for the main road. "What is it?" asked Ash, stepping up beside Pikachu and peering into the shadows of the thicket. Listening carefully he heard a quiet rustling and a low growl. Very soon he saw two points of light peering out at him from underneath one of the bushes. Pikachu's back arched and his yellow fur needled out as the red patches on his cheeks crackled with electricity.

_This is it,_ Ash thought to himself, excitement brimming in equal quantity with anxiety. _It's only my first day as a trainer and I'm already going to catch something more exciting than a rodent._

A small shape appeared around the eyes as the growling intensified and the dog-shape silhouette took on an orange hue. Pikachu's fur by now was jutting straight out, giving him the appearance almost of a Sandslash as Ash took a step back and let Pikachu step between him and the new Pokémon.

"A Growlithe," whispered Ash, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a grin. "Be careful," he now addressed his Pokémon. "This isn't going to be easy."

The Growlithe struck first, yapping loudly and flinging itself forward it opened its mouth wide, exposing its startlingly sharp teeth, and angling itself to come down on top of Pikachu. Ash jumped back to put himself in a more secure position as Pikachu, having evaded similar attacks with ease in the past, tumbled to one side and easily placed itself out of harm's way and positioning the wild Pokémon in between himself and Ash as the trainer took a metal baton from his bag with one hand, and readied his only pokeball with the other.

Growling uncomfortably the doglike Pokémon cast about, trying to decide whether to attack trainer and leave itself open to Pikachu, or attack Pikachu and open itself up to a swift kick from Ash. The Growlithe hesitated too long though and Pikachu disappeared in a blur of speed and materialized in midair directly behind the wild Pokémon, between Growlithe and Ash. The orange dog attempted to jump forward but Pikachu had already unleashed a crackling bolt of electricity from its cheeks which struck the Growlithe in the back of its neck and sent talons of energy racing across its spine.

The Growlithe yelped and collapsed, instantly prompting Ash to rear back and throw the pokeball straight for the stunned Pokémon. Pikachu landed a pace in front of Ash as the pokeball popped open and hovered in the air over Growlithe for only a split second before the downed Pokémon flashed into a white silhouette of itself and snapped up into the pokeball. Ash and Pikachu both waited with held breath, but the pokeball didn't shake even once, but neither did the red light on the locking mechanism turn black meaning the Pokémon within was quite obviously still alive.

"Gotcha!" celebrated Ash, running forward to the edge of the thicket and picking up the pokeball. "Way to go Pikachu! You were amazing!"

Pikachu nodded in agreement and sauntered forward to Ash, more like a haughty cat than a quiet mouse, and looked up at his trainer with a 'well-what-did-you-expect' sort of look.

"What I don't understand," said Ash as he glanced warily about the tangled coppice, "is why a lone Growlithe was out this far South when the packs stick more to the North."

Ash tossed out the pokeball and it burst open. The Growlithe quickly formed out of the energy that shot from the little red ball, and without hesitation began growling at Ash. Pikachu stepped between the Growlithe and its new trainer, cheeks sparking and teeth bared. The two Pokémon stared one another down for a long moment before Ahs stepped forward next to Pikachu, knelt down, and whispered for the yellow Pokémon to calm down while scratching Pikachu behind the ears. The trainer turned to the Growlithe, as Pikachu relaxed only the slightest bit, and took a cautious but confident step forward.

"Easy," Ash said calmly, reaching behind his back with one hand and holding the other up to show the Growlithe his hand was empty. The dog's growling continued and intensified as Ash drew something from his bag. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

Ash brought his other hand back in front of the him and opened his fingers, exposing the small red cube in his palm to the young Pokémon before him. "I'd much rather reward you for obeying me than punish you for disobeying me," said the trainer, letting a small grin tug up at his lip. He held the cinnamon scented block forward for the Growlithe to take, letting his hand hover less than a foot from the Pokémon's muzzle. Still the Growlithe growled and pulled its lip back to expose its teeth.

"Enough of that," said Ash, his voice now gruffer and his visage darkened. The Growlithe ignored the warning and continued snarling and growling. "**Enough!**" Ash barked, lunging forward an inch, his voice ringing in the thicket as his eyes seemed to glimmer. The Growlithe yelped reflexively and drew back a pace as Ash leaned back again and leveled his gaze at the Pokémon, focusing all his mental faculties on making Growlithe understand without any doubt that he, Ash, the trainer, was not only in charge, but also merciful.

The Pokémon ceased its growling, and watched Ash with a combination of curiosity and caution, caution mostly Ash guessed, for a long moment. Slowly, as though the action made it uncomfortable, the Growlithe sat on its haunches. It was by no means relaxed, Ash could easily see the tensed muscles in its legs prepared to jump and kick, but the Pokémon had at least stopped growling, and Ash knew that for a creature literately just caught, that was enough.

Ash tossed the flavored cube, considered a treat for most Pokémon, to the Growlithe, which twitched only a little in sudden anxiety, and then let its vision dart between Ash and the cube. "Good boy," said Ash, no note of condescension in his voice, as the Growlithe warily bent down, not taking its eyes off Ash, and snapped up the cube.

Ash managed to stop himself from laughing when the Growlithe's eyes widened in surprise at what the trainer guessed the Pokémon perceived as a sudden rush of flavor. Growlithe chewed on the cube for a moment and then swallowed it down, greedily licking its chops and turning back to Ash. _It must be completely wild,_ thought Ash, _if it hasn't ever even had a treat before._ He again met the Pokémon's gaze, this time noting the glint in Growlithe's eye, a look of surprise Ash recognized. It was the same look Pikachu had given Oak on the day the legendary Professor had captured it as a baby and used a similar treat to calm Pikachu's nerves.

At that moment the wind changed direction and began blowing out of the West, carrying with it the scent of the thicket. Instantly Pikachu stiffened and even Ash caught the stink of decay. The trainer reached up and covered his mouth and nose with a cloth and stepped back with one motion and recalled the Growlithe with his next move. It wasn't so much that the smell was overpowering, but that Ash knew that scent of death was almost without exception accompanied by disease of some sort or another.

"What is that?" asked the trainer, stepping cautiously forward. Immediately Pikachu was beside him and looking this way and that. Ash reached forward with his free hand and pushed aside some of the brush before him. "Holy shit…" he muttered, stopping short and looking into the sunlit clearing in the center of the small thicket. Scattered around a little pond were the corpses of a half dozen Growlithe. Some bodies were more badly maimed than others, but all bore dozens of deep gashes and gouges. Some were pecked and picked apart nearly to the bone, and the scene made Ash's stomach turn. A dead human just as torn apart as the Growlithes and laying half in and half out of the pool only made Ash all the more wary.

"I guess we know why the Growlithe was alone and scared," said Ash, addressing Pikachu but not looking away from the dead trainer, "and as much as I'd normally want to investigate… right now I just want to get out of here." Pikachu didn't move. The Pokémon was again on alert with its yellow fur sticking out like a coat of needles. "C'mon," said Ash, heading back the way they'd come as a dull rustling began to flap in Ash's ears and grow steadily louder, wings, and lots of wings.

Pikachu and Ash both turned from the grisly scene and ran back out into the overgrown road, just in time to look up and see that a huge flock of birds had flown in from the North-East and was now circling overhead, maybe fifty meters above their heads. "Are those Spearow?" asked Ash as both he and Pikachu ducked into the grass, hoping desperately that the birds with the vicious reputation hadn't spotted them yet. "No," whispered the trainer to both himself and his Pokémon as he spotted two especially large birds circling overhead, silhouetted by the sun.

"Fearow…" muttered Ash, "there are two of them…"

For several minutes the large flock of birds circled, gradually descending closer to the thicket, undoubtedly drawn by the smell of the carrion meal below. Ash dared not move for fear of alerting the entire flock to his position, and Pikachu, aware of the gravity of the situation, remained equally still, though still ready to unleash an electrical attack at a moment's notice.

_Why didn't I wear any kind of camouflage today?_ Ash mentally groaned, looking up just to catch the keen eye of one of the two Fearow. Knowing it saw him he, and Pikachu less than an instant later, leapt to his feet and took off South, barking for Pikachu to follow. The Fearow overhead squawked and screeched loudly, alerting the entire flock to the life below. Ash ran as fast as he could, adrenaline already burning in his veins, and Pikachu kept pace though he stayed just behind.

More than two dozen Spearow swooped down out of the air as an initial wave, flying at Ash like falling arrows. The trainer looked over his shoulder as he ran down the path and saw the incoming birds. "Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted to Pikachu, "see if you can catch them all in the wide spray!"

Pikachu pivoted and took a step running backwards before jumping into the air. Making sure he was higher than Ash Pikachu pressed both hands to his cheeks and hissed a battle cry as bolts of lightning exploded from both sides of his face. Both lances of electricity split off into dozens of smaller bolts as they neared the incoming Spearow, and slammed into the birds like a volley of anti-air missiles. A quarter of the small birds, those at the front mostly, fell from the air, blackened and smoking, some smoldering as they crashed to the ground and disintegrated into piles of charred remains. Another five or six dropped from the sky, too stunned to stop themselves as they smacked into the ground and rolled and stopped moving.

Pikachu turned in midair and kept after Ash, but soon stopped as his trainer kept running when the rest of the Spearow caught up. Ash skidded to a halt when Pikachu stopped, and turned around to see the little Pokémon sweating already. _He can't use thunderbolt more than once in a day,_ Ash realized. _He doesn't have the stamina yet._

With a grunting hiss Pikachu pressed both hands to his cheeks again as the remaining dozen Spearow swooped down. This time only a single bolt of lightning shot into the air, but it connected with the Spearow in the lead, blasting the bird literately to powder, and exploded out in a web of electricity to all of the surrounding Spearow, knocking them from the air. Only the two Fearow remained now, but both of the large Pokémon saw that Pikachu was swooning with fatigue.

"Growlithe!" barked Ash, grabbing his only pokeball and tossing it out in front of him. The ball burst open and the orange dog immediately materialized in front of Ash, only a meter away from Pikachu. "Get out there!"

The orange dog paused for only a second to look back at Ash, a sneer of contempt on its face for only the instant before it saw the Fearow swooping in, mere meters from the two Pokémon on the ground. "Just use ember!" Ash shouted at the top of his lungs, as commanding as he could be.

Growlithe turned back towards the two Fearow and opened its mouth to unleash the attack. The dog hesitated however, trembling once and failing to launch so much as a single flaming projectile. _Shit,_ Ash cursed. _It's still fatigued and injured from its fight with Pikachu and whatever attacked its pack…_

Much the same as Growlithe, Pikachu hesitated, slowed with exhaustion, and could barely roll to the side to dodge as both Fearow crashed down to the ground in a gust of talons and thrusting beaks. Growlithe jumped aside, catching a talon meant for its head across its rear flank. The Fearow's talon tore through Growlithe's pelt and dropped the Pokémon to the ground, making it too easy for the man-sized bird to then pin the dog with one foot and draw back, ready to drive its beak home for a killing blow. Pikachu couldn't break free of his fight with the opposite bird, too busy dodging talons and batting wings to help.

"Back off!" Ash bellowed, charging forward, steel baton grasped in a white-knuckled grip. He threw his shoulder into the startled Fearow's chest, driving the bird off Growlithe and toppling it to the ground. Throwing all his weight behind the blow, Ash took advantage of his superior position on top of the Fearow and brought his baton straight down, aiming for a coup-de-grace. His baton connected with a resounding crack across the Fearow's wing as the bird rolled beneath Ash to defend itself, but the massive damage was done. Even when the Fearow threw Ash off with a swipe of its good wing the bird hobbled and drug it crippled and completely broken limb beside it.

The Growlithe glanced between Ash and the crippled and squawking Fearow once, before turning all its attention on the injured bird and stepping forward in front of Ash with a renewed vigor. Ash grinned. "Finish it!" he ordered the Growlithe. With a yapping bark the dog charged forward and threw itself at the bird, jaws wide.

"Pikachu," Ash turned his attention on his first Pokémon. "Play it defensive," he ordered, seeing that Pikachu was on the losing end of the fight and that Growlithe, jaws closed around the wounded Fearow's neck, could probably handle the fight from here. "Try to get behind it so we can flank it!"

Pikachu nodded and, ducking and weaving with a last burst of energy, shot behind the second Fearow. Ash Readied himself to charge in again, going so far as to lower his shoulder and take the first few steps of the attack, but a loud yelp to his left made him hesitate. Turning he saw Growlithe's Fearow had rolled onto its back and brought its legs up underneath the dog and ferociously kicked Growlithe off, raking the Pokémon's belly with sharp talons as it did so. Growlithe's teeth had left bloody tears in the bird's neck, but the dog had collapsed into a bleeding heap on the ground.

"Damn," Ash hissed. _I'm out of time here._ He ran forward and threw himself at the uninjured Fearow, slamming into its back and bringing the baton down on the back of its head again and again and again, wrapping his legs around its back to hang on as the bird began to thrash. Pikachu, having spent all of its special attacks, lunged at the Fearow fighting with Ash and bit and scratched at it.

Whipping itself around the bird threw Ash to the ground where he landed hard on his back. The impact knocked the air out of him and made his head spin. He turned and saw the second Fearow turning away from the unmoving Growlithe and stalking towards him. He groped for his baton but couldn't find it as he rolled onto his knees. The injured Fearow, feathers matted with blood and wing drooping uselessly drove its spike like beak straight for Ash's chest and the trainer brought both his hands up, caught the beak between his palms, and fell backwards, gripping the beak as he tumbled and the Fearow tried to impale him.

Pikachu dropped to the ground and rushed for Ash, cheeks crackling with electricity. It threw itself forward and a third thunderbolt, brighter than either of the ones before it, blasted through the air and struck the Fearow in its good wing. The bird screeched and tumbled off of Ash, collapsing to the ground and twitching erratically.

Ash, stunned and frazzled, rolled on his side to see Pikachu fall to the ground, panting and wheezing as the other Fearow came up behind the exhausted Pokémon. Ash's vision began to fade and his hearing washed over with white noise, but before the world was lost to him he heard someone shout "hydropump!"

SC

Several Hours Later

Ash stirred, making his head spin as consciousness returned. He tried to sit up but fell backwards. Before he could hit the ground someone's hands caught him and held him up. "Easy," a gentle voice said. "You're still weak. You need to take it light for a while."

Ash opened his eyes and glanced around as whoever had caught him, a girl he saw now, helped him sit up. Ash sat on a bedroll, his bedroll he realized, a few feet away from a very small campfire. Pikachu was right beside him, chittering uneasily, and nudging him with his nose. The Growlithe he had caught earlier lay next to the campfire, asleep. Its midsection had been wrapped in bandages that were now stained red.

"How are you feeling?" asked the girl, drawing Ash's attention back to her.

She was older than him, he guessed, reflexively noting her features. She wore her orange hair loose and her whole appearance was rather unkempt despite her pretty looks. Her yellow tank-top was in need of a good wash, and her jean shorts were tattered and dirty. She wore a pair of blue running shoes that looked like they had seen all kinds of trouble and probably walked right through it. Most of all, Ash noted the six pokeballs at her belt.

"I'm alive," he said, reaching up and pressing his hand to his face. Immediately Pikachu jumped into his lap and stared up at him, so Ash put his free hand on the Pokémon's neck and scratched up and down the back of its head. "And I guess that's thanks to you?"

The girl grinned and shifted back a little. "Sort of," she said, letting Ash sit on his own. "I heard the fight going on and came running up in time to stop the last Fearow from-" she trailed off. "I patched up your Growlithe," she went on. "The little thing should pull through, but even after I bandaged it up it sat and stared at me like a guard dog. Every time I moved towards you it would start growling." She paused and Ash glanced over at the sleeping Pokémon. He grinned a little. "But I think your Pikachu convinced it that they needed to let me tend to you," she finished.

"Well," said Ash, leaning back a little and resting on his elbows. "Thank you… I'm Ash by the way, Ash Ketchum."

The girl smiled. "I'm Misty."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – Forces of Nature

"What time is it?" asked Ash, noting his broken watch, sitting up a little straighter and glancing around the makeshift camp. Misty had been efficient he had to say; as far as Ash could tell she hadn't used any tinder other than prairie grass to get the fire started and the only thing cooking over said fire was what smelled like Rattata… though most of the spitted meat was gone. "And how long have I been out?"

"You slept for a few hours," said Misty. "You must've taken quite a beating and my best guess is that it's just about midnight. My watch died the day before yesterday." Misty sat back and shifted more towards the fire. Summer was drawing to a close and the nights were just beginning to grow cooler. "So what are you doing out here on your own?" she asked, looking over her shoulder as Ash got off the bedroll and reached for his backpack. "The road isn't exactly a safe place and you've only got two Pokémon."

Ash pulled his backpack to him, making sure not to disturb Pikachu who had curled up beside his leg and begun lightly napping, feeling more secure since Growlithe had woken up and begun pacing about the camp as if to keep watch. That Pikachu had so readily accepted Growlithe as part of the team, Ash decided, was a very good sign. Pikachu had always been a good judge of character. He glanced over at Misty. "I'm headed back to Pallet Town," said the trainer, rummaging through his pack and making sure that everything that was still there. "I didn't mean to come out this far in the first place but," he trailed off a little. "I got carried away wanting to catch a Pokémon today."

Misty shrugged. "I guess that happens to the best of us… Pallet Town is only a couple of hours from here right?"

Ash nodded. "Maybe two and a half if we make good time, where are you going exactly?" he asked. "This road only goes between Pallet Town and Viridian City." _I'd recognize her if she was from Pallet,_ thought Ash. _No one new can move in without everyone else knowing about it._

"I'm not really going anywhere in particular," said Misty, looking away from Ash. "I just like to travel, 'ya know? There are a lot of interesting things to see in the world."

_Did she just use 'interesting' to reference Pallet Town? _Ash caught himself thinking. "So are you going to see Professor Oak or something?" said the trainer, unable to think of anything else near his hometown that was worth seeing.

Misty nodded, "yeah, exactly," she said quickly. "I heard about Professor Oak when I was in," she paused, "Pewter City. I decided to check him out and see if he was really all that amazing. So," her tone brightened a little and she turned back to Ash. "I'm guessing you're on your way back there. Why don't we travel together since we're both going the same direction?"

"There's safety in numbers," said Ash as he shifted onto his knees and neatly packed his bedroll into his pack. "Besides, I wouldn't mind the company and it would be rude to say no to the girl who saved my life." He grinned just a little to Misty as Growlithe, observing that the group was getting ready to leave, paced over to its new trainer and sat silently and warily an arm's length from Ash. "So where are you from Misty?" asked Ash as he finished gathering up his things.

Misty kicked some dirt on the fire, reducing the flames to flickering coals, then scattered the embers with her shoe, shrouding the camp in darkness. The crescent moon afforded the small party only a vestige of light, by which Misty found her pack and slung it over one shoulder. "Up North a ways," she said, looking between Ash and his Growlithe. "When did you catch that one?" she asked.

"About ten minutes before the Fearow tried to turn us into birdseed," said Ash, getting up and shouldering his backpack.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "And he's already taken to you?" she asked. "That's impressive. Growlithe are generally strong willed and tough to tame."

"Well," Ash continued, looking over at the orange canine who met his gaze with a cautious perking up of its ears. "I think part of it was that he's the only survivor of his pack. I found a whole bunch of dead Growlithe in a little grove not too far from here. I don't know what killed them, I'm just glad this little guy," he looked back at the Growlithe and smiled warmly, trying to make sure the Pokémon noticed the gesture, "made it out alright."

"Ah," said Misty. "Yeah, that might have had something to do with it. Growlithe tend to be at their most ferocious when they're in packs so being alone might make it more compliant… That and your Pikachu doesn't look like a pushover." She noted the handful of scars winding across Pikachu's pelt, evidenced by the somewhat rougher patches of darker yellow fur across the Pokémon's back, sides, and even his face.

Ash nodded as, giving the surrounding area as much of a last onceover as he could in the terrible light, he and Misty began walking South. "Pikachu and I have been thorough a lot," he said casually. "We've gotten ourselves into some pretty rough scrapes but we've been there for each other and managed to pull through somehow…" Ash smiled proudly, recalling some of the good times he and Pikachu had in the last five years. "There was this one time," he began narrating, "when Professor Oak and I were doing some fieldwork in a cave just East of Viridian, we got separated by a cave-in and for two days it was just Pikachu and I wandering around in this underground maze, trying to avoid all the Pokémon and find our way out."

"Sounds like you were lucky to get out at all," said Misty, walking beside and just behind Ash. "Did you see any interesting Pokémon or were you too busy just trying to stay alive?"

"Mostly we were trying to stay alive," said Ash. "We saw a couple of Diglett but fortunately those tend to be pretty passive. If you don't bother them they won't bother you. No, the Zubat gave us some trouble though. Those flying leeches almost killed us more than once," Ash paused and held out his forearm, pointing out the semi-circular and now barely visible remnants of a bite mark. "It's been a year since Pikachu and I got out of that cave, and these still haven't disappeared all the way."

Misty glanced over the scar and looked back down the road. "At least you managed to get out at all," she pointed out, not unkindly.

"I'm not complaining," said Ash. "I just wanted to emphasize that without Pikachu I'd be a corpse back in that cave."

Misty nodded and listened as Ash went on, lighting on some of the experiences he remembered, fieldwork with Professor Oak mostly, and freely answering when she questioned him on some detail or facet of the stories. More than an hour passed without incident as they walked, making sure to keep up a good pace. The moon rose higher into the sky and Pikachu, sitting atop Ash's head, made good use of the extra light and kept close watch on the surrounding fields. Growlithe, walking just out of a grab's range from Ash, routinely paused for just a second to sniff the air and then, never picking up a disturbing scent, kept walking and occasionally glancing over at Ash, almost expectantly.

"So now you know the condensed version of my life's story," said Ash good humouredly after a twenty minute stretch of silence. "What's your story? You've seen my Pokémon but all I know about yours is that they tend to favor water moves."

Misty pursed one corner of her lips before answering. "There's not much to tell," she said. "I've been a trainer since I was little, my first Pokémon was a Squirtle. I like Water Pokémon." She shrugged. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Ash raised one shoulder and let it fall. "Well, what about your home life? Where did you live before you went out on your own?"

"Well," said the orange haired trainer, trying not to sound impolite or dodgy. "I've been on my own since I was seven, both of my parents died when our town was attacked by a wild Snorlax."

"Oh," said Ash. "I'm sorry," he backpedaled.

"It's not your fault," said Misty casually. "Nobody really expects any dangerous Pokémon, _especially_ not a wild Snorlax, to come lumbering into a town with a taste for blood in its mouth." She hesitated for a second. "Everybody thinks Snorlax are just giant oafs who only sleep and eat and then sleep some more-"

"Not exactly," said Ash, shaking his head. "Professor Oak warned me about Snorlax once. He said they are some of the most ferocious things alive if they actually fully wake up."

"They don't wake up very often," said Misty. "And we should all be thankful they don't. The one that attacked- my town killed ninety people, ten of them were trainers who had just started up the city's gym, so of course they didn't know what they were doing," Misty began to stare off and comment on her own story. "None of them knew that a Snorlax's fat is thick enough to absorb just bout anything you throw at it…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry," she said, making herself smile. "I don't mean to ramble."

"I didn't mind in the least," said Ash, reaching up to scratch Pikachu's head. "You endured my story. But anyway, you mentioned that you like water Pokémon, you wouldn't happen to be from Cerulean City would you?" he asked.

Ash wasn't quite quick enough to catch the little tremor that shot through Misty's frame. "I've been there once or twice," she said, voice steady. "Why? Have you ever gone out that far?"

"Nope," said Ash. "I've never been passed Mt Moon.

Slipping back into small talk, Misty and Ash let Pikachu and Growlithe worry about keeping track of the surroundings. Both trainers knew that the Pokémon would pick up on a nearby threat long before human senses would detect anything dangerous, especially now that the wind was out of the North and blowing the scents of any wild Pokémon away from the party. In what seemed to Ash like no time at all, he and Misty were trekking up the side of the hill that, when crested, would give them a clear view of Pallet Town.

"It's too bad you won't be able to see the town in the sunlight," said Ash as he and Misty neared the top of the hill. "The way it sits between the three hills on the North, East, and West, and the sea to the South can be beaut-"

Ash stopped silent as a flickering beam of prismatic energy blasted into the sky from the opposite side of the hill. Pikachu and Growlithe both instantly froze. Pikachu's fur needled out again as his cheeks sparked, ready to unleash an attack at the slightest hint of danger. The orange canine began growling and hunkered down, though he took a reflexive step closer to Ash. A resounding boom shook the ground and very nearly knocked Ash and Misty to their knees just as a flare of red fire jetted into the sky, illuminating the night.

"That was a Hyperbeam," said Ash, steadying himself.

"And a Fire Blast by the looks of it," noted Misty. "Whatever's happening is big."

Grunting with effort as he burst forward, Ash took off running up the hill.

"Ash!" Misty shouted, reaching out as if to grab and hold him back. "What do you think you're doing?" she ran after him, catching up with the younger trainer in a few strides. They both crested the hill and just in time to see another huge burst of fire leap up from the center of Pallet Town. The pillar of fire towered into the sky, scattering flaming brands down across the city like rain, riding the wind and setting many of the town's wood-framed buildings on fire.

The fire wasn't what caught Ash's attention. "What the hell is that?" he mumbled, shock nearly choking his voice back. On the Southern end of the town, a colossal serpentine figure stood, ringed in flames, roaring and seeming to glow red in the fires that danced around it like dervishes. The monster reared back, opened its gaping mouth, and belched out a torrent of fire that washed through the streets and ignited very nearly an entire city block. By now acrid black smoke was rising into the air and collecting over the town, hanging low enough to reflect much of the bloody light from the fires now spreading through the town back down, bathing the entire scene in a hellish glow.

"That's a Gyarados," said Misty, raising one eyebrow. "But I've never seen one that color or that big." The colossal, ruby colored, Pokémon continued thrashing down the streets and spraying fire at anything that moved. By now Ash and Misty could make out figures running through the streets seemingly at random, seeking any shelter that wasn't ablaze. "It must be eighty feet long," said the girl.

Ash clenched one fist in rage as he watched the Gyarados barrel through a house, smashing the structure to splinters. _How long has it been here?_ Ash wondered, anger and a sudden feeling of helplessness washing over him. The Gyarados twisted, raising its tail high in the air and bring it crashing down on top of another house. _The entire town is going to burn down,_ he lamented, scanning the Pallet Town from his vantage point on the hill. From one side of the town to another now, there wasn't a home or building that wasn't on fire or quickly threatening to ignite in the firestorm.

Ash felt the wind rushing past him into the city as the fire grew large enough to create gale force winds. He could see bodies in the streets now. "I can't-" Ash growled. "I can't just let this-"

Crackling with energy, a bolt of lightning seared through the air from ground level and slammed into the Gyarados's flank, nearly knocking the beast over and making it roar in pain. Both Ash and the monstrous Pokémon turned and traced the path of the bolt along a smoking arc back to the source, a Raichu. Ash made out the figures of several Pokémon and a single man standing next to the orange Raichu.

"Professor!" he shouted, immediately recognizing the figure as Oak. He couldn't be heard over the raging firestorm, but without a second thought, Ash barreled down the side of the hill towards the battle.

"Ash!" Misty shouted again, hesitating for a moment before running after him, reaching to one of the pokeballs on her belt as she moved.

With Pikachu and Growlithe in tow, Ash raced through the flaming streets of Pallet Town, ignoring the charred and in many cases, still burning, bodies of the dead. Obeying an unspoken command, Pikachu began to glow and flicker with yellow light, charging up a massive amount of energy in the red patches on its cheeks in preparation for the fight. Growlithe, panting with effort and fighting against the bandages which restricted its breathing, merely kept up with the trainer and Pikachu.

Ash rounded a corner and found himself less than fifty meters from the Gyarados's, directly behind the monster which was focusing all of its attention on Professor Oak. Roaring, the Gyarados unleashed another prismatic blast of Hyperbeam on the Professor. Oak flinched but barked the order "Light Shield!"

Without a trace of hesitation, a red and white Pokémon the size of a child jumped in front of Oak, throwing its disproportionately large hands before itself. A yellow barrier of energy sprung to life between the Mr. Mime's hands and rocketed outwards to form a wall, five meters by five, directly between the Gyarados and Oak's forces. The Hyperbeam crashed into the wall and Mr. Mime faltered to one knee as the energy blast exploded and shook the ground. The barrier flickered but held strong and Mr. Mime immediately stood back up as a flurry of green leafs whirled in long arcs around the barrier, flying like missiles at Gyarados.

Oak's Venasaur shook the plant on its back again and another volley of Razorleafs flew towards the monstrous Pokémon, slashing into it like shuriken and drawing thin lines of blood across its body. Oak clenched one fist as Gyarados faltered, but he remained stone-faced, knowing the battle could turn at any instant.

"Pikachu," said Ash, his voice trembling with both anger and fear. "Give it everything you've got. Drop this thing in one hit if you can."

Pikachu acknowledged with a quiet squeak, glowing like a light bulb. With a hissing crackle a bolt of lightning, blindingly bright and so hot the ground around Pikachu blackened, blasted forward from the Pokémon's cheeks and lanced into the distracted Gyarados's back, shattering into a hundred arcs of electricity that raced over the Pokémon's carapace. Gyarados jerked and screeched in pain and nearly fell over.

"Gotcha," Ash cheered, pumping one arm and gritting his teeth, not nothing that Pikachu swooned to one side and nearly collapsed.

"Ash!!" the trainer heard Oak shout as the Gyarados turned and refocused its attention on Ash, sheer rage and killer intent burning in its eyes. "Get out of here!"

Ash and Pikachu jumped to one side, behind the nearby rubble of a partially collapsed building as the Gyarados reared back, preparing to unleash yet another attack. "Growlithe!" Ash barked, realizing the canine had failed to move and instead lay in a heap in the middle of the road, panting and sweating.

Ignoring both the blistering heat that sapped his strength and the immanent attack from the Gyarados, Ash threw himself back into the middle of the street and scooped up Growlithe in his arms. "Run!" Oak roared as the Gyarados bolted forwards and opened its mouth. A withering blast of black fire flew from between its massive jaws and straight towards Ash. Pikachu appeared by Ash's side in an instant, determined not to let its master die alone.

Ash didn't even look up to watch as the fire rocketed towards him, but gasped in surprise as a brilliant flash of white light in front of him nearly blinded him. Before the light even fully too shape, Misty who had appeared behind Ash, flanked on either side by a Pokémon resembling a huge starfish, shouted "barrier!"

A blue wall sprang to life before Ash and the new Pokémon which had just begun to take the shape of a third, but even larger, starfish. There was absolutely no time at all between the formation of the blue barrier, and the impact from the black fire. The searing wave of heat rolled around the shield like a river hitting a boulder, flanking Ash, Misty, and their Pokémon on three sides.

Ash turned and saw Misty, holding one arm in front of her face to block out some of the mind numbing heat, reach with her free hand to grab another pokeball. She threw it behind Ash and another Pokémon, this one a huge turtle that Ash recognized as a Blastoise, came to life from the white energy.

"Give us some cover!" Misty ordered.

Without any hesitation the Blastoise dropped onto all fours and scuttled between Ash and the purple Starmie as the wave of black fire dissipated to nothing and the barrier faded. The exhausted Starmie wilted and Misty recalled it with a pokeball. "Tackle it!" Misty barked, seeing the Gyarados remained fixated on them.

The Blastoise lowered its shoulder and barreled forward, faster than Ash had ever seen anything of that size move before. It closed the distance in a split second and smashed its head into the Gyarados's torso, knocking it off balance. The Gyarados shifted, already in the throws of yet another Hyperbeam, and shot the chromatic blast of energy through the roof of a building twenty meters to Ash's left.

Hearing the rumbling blast, Ash turned to his left and saw the building explode into flame. Too late he recognized it as the facility in which Pallet Town processed the natural gas which it received from the Cinnabar pipeline. Then, for a brief second, it seemed to Ash that the entire world exploded. Everything turned white and before he heard absolutely nothing the roaring explosion of the detonating processing plant blotted out all other sound. On top of the wave of heat he felt slam in on him from all sides like a collapsing building, he noted a screaming pain pulsating in his side.

It took Ash a moment to process that he wasn't dead once the world began to come back into focus and the deafness ringing in his ears gradually faded into the popping of fires around him. He couldn't sit up but, opening his eyes, he saw the sky full of black smoke and the red glow of fire.

"Ash," he heard his name called as though he were perceiving it through a wall. "Ash!" the voice called again, a little louder this time. Now he noticed that hovering over him there was a face against the black sky. Misty looked down at him and suddenly he remembered that he should be in a battle for his life. Adrenaline pouring into his veins chased the fogginess from his head and he lurched upright, looking around. Everything was on fire, but Misty and her Blastoise, as well as Pikachu and Growlithe, stood around him in a defensive circle. Ash could see the Gyarados several blocks away, but it was retreating towards the sea and Oak was pursuing it with his Pokémon.

"Misty," Ash tried to say, but stopped after the first syllable. He suddenly felt as though someone were stabbing him in the side with a spear and he twitched away from Misty, looking down at himself. He quickly found the source of the agony; a wooden stake as big around as a tent peg protruded a hand's width from his side and only partially plugged up the wound it had torn in him. Blood was seeping from the edges of the stake and dripping down Ash's shirt.

"Don't move," said Misty, putting her hands on Ash's shoulders and forcing him to lay on the ground. She held him still as the Pokémon kept watch. "If you hold still I can keep you from bleeding to death," she hissed, holding a tightly woven gauze in one hand and reaching to grip the steak with the other. "On the count of three I'm going to pull it out and I need you to help me keep pressure on the gauze, ok?."

"In-in-infection," Ash panted, every breath stabbing another splinter of pain in his side and in his lungs. Even through the pain however he positioned his hand to do as Misty instructed.

"Never mind that," said the orange haired trainer. "Bleeding out will kill you a lot faster than an infection and we have antibiotics for that anyway. One, two, three!"

Misty jerked and the stake, all six inches of the lance like scrap of wood, slid from Ash's side with a slurping gurgle as the wound spat out some blood before Misty slapped the gauze over the open puncture. Ash screwed his eyes shut and ground his teeth in pain, but reached down and put his hand on the makeshift bandage, pressing it into the wound to stop the blood loss.

"Pressure pressure pressure," Misty ordered as she removed her hand and tossed the stake to the ground beside her where it landed next to her bag. She reached into the backpack and pulled out a small white plastic case she set next to Ash. "This is going to hurt," she said, opening the box and pulling out several long, metal staples.

Working at a near frenzied pace, Misty managed to get Ash's wound closed up using the staples to hold the puncture closed. Finding a source of heat to cauterize the wound was not difficult and a few moments later Misty, sitting on her knees, leaned back from Ash who had passed out a few seconds into the procedure. The makeshift surgery wasn't pretty, and it would probably leave the boy with a hideous scar that would never totally disappear, but he was alive and would survive long enough for someone more versed in medicine to do a proper job, and in this situation, Misty told herself, that was something to be proud of.

Exhaling deeply and beginning to feel fatigue setting in as the adrenaline wore off, Misty stood up as Professor Oak, surrounded by a vanguard of monstrous escorts, ran to the scene. "Is Ash alright?" he asked, kneeling down by his grandson and more or less ignoring Misty and the Pokémon around her. "What happened?"

"Shrapnel," said Misty curtly. "It missed anything vital but trauma and blood loss are still going to be dangerous," she quickly briefed the Professor. "We need to get him somewhere safe and do more than a patch-job. We also need to start him on antibiotics."

Oak took only a second to look up at the girl, curiosity in his eyes. "Who are you exactly and how do you know my grandson?"

"I'm Misty," said the girl. "Now about getting him somewhere safe?"

Oak nodded. "Of course… my laboratory's basement is still intact and I have some old equipment down there," he made a motion with his hand and his Machamp stepped forward, gently picking up Ash. "Let's go."

SC

It was the beeping of the machine monitoring his vital signs that woke Ash the next day, late in the morning. He cracked one eye open and slowly forced himself into a sitting position, looking around the room as he did. Ash guessed he was in the basement of Professor Oak's laboratory, given that much of the equipment surrounding him, either around his small bed in the corner or lining the walls, would be nowhere else in a nowhere little place like Pallet Town.

"Easy," said Misty from her chair beside the bed, leaning forward. "Don't move too quickly."

Ash's vision began to spin and he quickly laid back down, pain jabbing into his side. "Where exactly am I?" he asked.

"You're in the Professor's basement," she answered. "It's safe here. The Professor drove off that Gyarados and fixed you up. You're going to pull through."

Ash looked at the IV drip in his arm and traced the little plastic line up to the clear bag of fluid hanging over his bed. "What's that?" he asked.

"Some kind of steroid," said Misty. "I'm not sure what it is but the Professor said that if it worked properly it would have you back up and at one hundred percent in no time. Given how quickly you're healing I'd say it's working."

Ash took a deep breath and looked at the late morning sunlight seeping in through the narrow windows set high up in the wall. "What do the damages look like?" he asked. "How many people survived the attack last night?"

Misty paused and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I haven't been outside yet," said Misty. "I've been trying to keep an eye on- things around here, so I'm not sure. The Professor took Pikachu though and they're out looking around right now."

Ash's face darkened a little and his gaze fell. "Has anyone come to the lab?" he asked.

Misty shook her head. "I don't think anyone survived," she said, no longer dodging the question. "I'm sorry Ash."

Ash shook his head and set one arm over his face, burying his eyes in the crook of his elbow. He took a series of steadying breaths and didn't say anything for several minutes. Misty didn't miss the thin trail of tears that seeped from under his elbow and ran down the side of his face, but she let him gather his thoughts and sat quietly until Ash's breathing leveled a little. "There wasn't anything we could have done," she said at length, breaking the silence. "Even if we had gotten here sooner we probably would have been killed too." She bit her lip, suddenly realizing that probably hadn't been as comforting as she'd meant it to be.

"I know," said Ash. "This makes twice that you've saved me in the last two days."

Misty grinned a little bit. "Yeah, well don't get used to it. I'm not really a nice person you know and I'm not always going to be around to pull your ass out of trouble."

"I think you're a good person," said Ash, not taking his arm off his face.

"Nobody has ever accused me of that before," she said, stopping as she heard footsteps on the stairs. Ash wiped his face with his arm as he took it from his face and, slowly this time, sat up and leaned against the headboard of the bed. The basement was as large as the laboratory above it had been, and sectioned off with machines and makeshift walls forming rooms in just the same fashion, but the sounds echoed here much less for whatever reason and Ash lost track of the footsteps once they left the metal staircase.

A moment later Professor Oak, Pikachu on his shoulder, emerged and paced to the side of the bed without saying a word. His face was a mask as Pikachu leapt down from his shoulders and landed nimbly on the bed between Ash's feet. The Pokémon scampered up to Ash and curled up against him, prompting Ash to scratch Pikachu up and down his back and behind his ears.

"Well," said the Professor, tone low. "I don't know where to begin…"

"Nobody survived," said Ash, more as a statement of fact than a question.

Oak nodded. "If anyone did, they took off into the hills or down Route 1. I didn't find a single person out in what's left of the village."

"How much is left?" asked Misty.

Oak shook his head again. "Not a whole lot… just about the only thing standing is the wall at the edge of town. There's not a home or a building in the town that hasn't burned to the ground. What few survived the fire were demolished by the Gyarados."

"Grandpa," said Ash, sitting up a bit more, feeling a little stronger. "What happened last night? What provoked the Gyarados?"

"Hell if I know," said Oak, running a hand through his grey hair. "It came out of nowhere. One minute everything is peaceful and the entire town is asleep, the next minute everything is blowing up or burning down… If I were to guess I'd say that the Cinnabar Mining Company to the South disturbed the Gyarados with the deep-sea diving operations. If they did, there might not be a Cinnabar Mining Company anymore."

The group of trainers fell silent for a minute. Pikachu dutifully inspected Ash, making sure the boy was healing properly then, when the Pokémon was convinced Ash was indeed as alright as could be expected, he curled up and began napping lightly. Ash grinned at the Pokémon in his lap and petted him some.

"I think Pikachu's still tired from last night," said Ash.

"He should be," said Oak. "That thunderbolt attack was amazing. Even I didn't know Pikachu had that kind of power to him."

Ash smiled a little more. "That's Pikachu for you. He's full of surprises."

Turning to Misty, the Professor cleared his throat. "Thank you for keeping an eye on him," Oak said. "We both owe you a lot."

Misty shrugged. "It was no big deal," she said, dodging the compliment. "I was headed this way anyway and it's always safer to travel with someone."

Oak nodded and crossed his arms. "Very true…" he paused. "There's not an easy way for me to say this," he continued, "so I'm just going to say it. Pallet Town is gone. There's nobody but us left and there's nothing for either of you here… this is just proof to me that this part of the frontier is no longer safe." He faced Ash directly now, but still addressed both trainers. "But I want to make it a safe place and I want you to help me with that."

Misty leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "Only the bigger cities are really safe," she said casually. "The frontier has always been a wild place, and it probably always will be unless you can somehow come up with a way to give every trainer in the world some advantage over every Pokémon in the wild."

Oak grinned just a little. "Funny you should say that," he said. "I've been working on a project recently to do just that but now that my facility here has been destroyed, I find myself in need of some assistants."

"Whatever I can do to help Grandpa," said Ash. "I'm in no matter what."

"That's my grandson," said Oak, an undertone of something almost like excitement in his voice. "Nothing dampens your spirits." He turned to Misty. "I can't exactly offer much in the way of payment," he told her, "but if you're willing to help with the project I'd see to it that you were fairly compensated for your time. You've already proven that you're a very capable trainer and that you can handle yourself in the wild. Will you help us?"

Misty shrugged and crossed her arms. "Nothing personal," she said, "but I don't just sign up for dangerous work without knowing what I'm getting myself into. If you want me to even consider this I'm going to need some more information."

"Of course, of course," said Oak. "Forgive me, I got ahead of myself. What I need is for someone to deliver an item to a friend of mine named William. He's self-proclaimed "Poke-maniac" living up North and while he may be a nut, he's also a genius."

"What would we be delivering?" interrupted Ash.

"I'm getting there," said Oak, "though now that I think about it," he said, getting to his feet, "it would probably be easier for me to just show you. Pardon me." The professor turned and quickly left, disappearing into the winding stacks of equipment in the basement.

"Sorry," said Ash when he was sure Oak was out of earshot. "My Grandpa can get a little excited."

"Don't apologize," said Misty. "It's good that he loves his work. I'm just a little surprised that, even after living here on the frontier, that he can watch an entire town be wiped out and go on like nothing's happened. Not many people can do that."

Ash shrugged. "That's the world we live in," he said. "Bad things happen, people die, and most of the time things just aren't fair. That doesn't mean we just give up though."

Misty nodded. "I-" she hesitated. "I'm really sorry," she said, "I didn't say it earlier but the Professor said that last night your mom died in the attack. I just wanted to say that I think it takes a lot of courage to handle it this well and if I can help I'd… I'd like to."

Ash hid the tremor that shot through his chest and made his heart feel tight, forcing himself to harden his face a little. "Thanks," was all he could say before Professor Oak returned. As the older man took from his coat pocket a small red device that fit in the palm of his hand, Ash forced all thoughts of his mother from his mind.

"This," said Oak, "is quite possibly the most important thing I've ever created." He held the device up, showing the handheld computer to Ash and Misty in more detail. "The trouble with the way we defend ourselves from Pokémon," began the professor, assuming an almost lecturing tone, "is that trainers tend to only have a select few Pokémon with which they are familiar. A trainer catches a Pokémon and becomes knowledgeable about that specific creature, learning its strengths and weaknesses, but that's where their knowledge ends. Beyond his own Pokémon, any given trainer who hasn't spent years in the world abroad will be unfamiliar with a Pokémon he has to face in the wild or a monster that attacks him or his city. Most trainers who don't train psychic Pokémon for example have no idea that psychics are extremely vulnerable to the powers used by a ghostly Pokémon.

"And it's those strong points and vulnerabilities that are vital information for all trainers. They need to know that fighting a Charizard with an Ivysaur is a very bad idea, but unfortunately there aren't any schools to teach people how to defend themselves intelligently."

"There are gyms," said Misty. "All of the big cities have gyms that hire strong trainers to defend the city from wild Pokémon and other threats."

"And a lot of good that does the smaller towns and villages on the frontier," said Oak. "The fact that Gyms have strong trainers and Pokémon isn't the point. Gyms can't protect everyone, it just isn't possible. What trainers in the wild and in smaller cities need is information, information about threats in the area, about the strengths and weaknesses of different Pokémon and tips on how to defend themselves from danger.

"And that's exactly what this is for," Oak gave the device a little shake. "This is called the Pokedex. It's a device that scans Pokémon and records their genetic information. It catalogues their specific strengths and weaknesses, likely habitats, life expectancy, everything about them, and it sends this information to a database here at my lab… or at least it did before the database was destroyed.

"That's where Bill comes in," said Oak, clearing his throat. "He helped develop the Pokedex and he can reprogram it to send the information it gathers to his computer. From there he can send the information anywhere he wants. My goal here is to create a complete catalogue of all the Pokémon on the continent, a catalogue that can be sent to and accessed by anyone whenever they need it. This would give every trainer in the wild access to the knowledge he needs to have an edge over wild Pokémon. It would also give trainers in the cities more information they can use to defend the city so they can rely less on brute strength and more on strategy and tactics. I want to mass produce the Pokedex and give copies to everyone to use whenever they need it. It could revolutionize the world and make life better and easier for everyone… so, what do you say? Do you want to be a part of this?"

Misty and Ash glanced at each other. "I already said I'd help," said Ash, turning back to Oak. "As soon as I can walk I'll help out however I can."

"Good, good," said Oak, "I appreciate that." He turned to Misty. "Again, I can't promise much but I'll do whatever I can to compensate you if you help Ash take the Pokedex to Bill."

"Well," Misty sighed. "With that red Gyarados still loose in the sea I won't be going any farther South from here and that means North is the only way to go… Sure, I'll help take this at least as far as your friend. After that I'm not making any promises though."

Ash grinned and Professor Oak nodded. "Thank you very much," said the older man. "I'll feel much better knowing that Ash at least has a traveling companion on the road."

"What?" asked Ash. "Won't you be coming with us?"

Oak shook his head. "I can't… It's imperative that Bill gets the Pokedex, but I need to stay here and salvage as much of the lab as I can. There is a lot of technology here that I can't risk falling into the wrong hands."

"Alright," said Ash. "I understand," he looked at the IV running from his arm to the bag of fluid hanging above his bed. "How long do you think it will be before I'm good for the road?"

"If you take it easy," said Oak. "You should be ready to go by tomorrow morning.

Ash nodded. "That's when we'll leave then."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three – Prelude

The rest of that day passed without incident. Ash, much to his own chagrin, spent the majority of his time simply laying in bed and recuperating from his wound. Every now and again though Oak would suffer him to stand and stretch, during which times Ash would eagerly check on Pikachu and Growlithe who had both been stationed upstairs to keep watch on what remained of the laboratory.

Oak divided the day between tending to Ash, making sure his grandson was healing properly, and rummaging through debris in the upper portion of the building. The Professor's laboratory had been the first building attacked by the Gyarados and thusly the one which sustained the most damage. Oak remained positive though and never let on whether or not the massive loss of valuable equipment deeply bothered him.

Of the three living humans in Pallet Town, Misty did the most legwork. Having taken it upon herself to maintain a safe perimeter around the lab she, escorted constantly by her Blastoise and two Staryu, roamed the ruins of the town, never straying more than a kilometer or so from the laboratory. Occasionally the trainer would stop to investigate the derelict of a ruined building and more than once she found an item of value which she either stuffed into her pack or slung across her back. Returning to the laboratory just before sunset, Misty asked Professor Oak to help her sort through some of the cache and determine what would be useful and what could be thrown away.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor across from Oak and sifting through contents of her pack, Misty held up a small metal box. Catching the fading rays of daylight filtering in through the huge breaks in the roof, the box glinted with a steely light. "This is probably the most valuable thing I've found so far," said Misty, flipping the latch and opening the box for the Professor to view the contents. "They're all empty of course."

Oak raised an eyebrow as he surveyed what was inside. Six orbs, each the size of a large marble sat side by side in foam depressions in the box. Each sported a white lower half like all pokeballs, but the upper hemispheres of these particular items were grey with a golden 'U' emblazoned across the face. "Ultraballs," said Oak, surprised. "I didn't know anyone in Pallet Town had access to these, or could afford them."

"Pokeballs in general are valuable and these looked unique so I assumed they must have some worth to them," said Misty, sounding surprised. "How much _are_ they worth?"

"Ultraballs can catch young and weakened Pokémon without fail," said the Professor. "They can even contain most Pokémon that are at full strength. On the casual market an Ultraball is worth more money than most Gym Leaders make in a month, and to the right person, say a man like myself, these could be worth a lot more than money."

Misty instinctively lowered the lid on the case a bit and cocked her head off to one side. "Why would they be more valuable to you than they would be to other people?"

Oak laughed quietly and put his hands up placatingly. "Don't act so defensive," said the Professor. "I'm not going to take them from you, but I will offer to trade you something for them. You see, before I took up studying Pokémon I spent a great deal of my time studying how to _capture_ Pokémon and I have available to me a means by which I can turn an Ultraball into a much more potent device of incalculable value; a ball that can capture _any_ Pokémon without fail… a Masterball."

Misty pursed her lips just a little. "That sounds a little too good to be true," she said cautiously. "But you've got my attention."

"How about this," said Oak, sitting back. "In exchange for those six Ultraballs, I'll give you ten Greatballs _and_ my word that as soon as I complete the Masterballs I'll send you two of the finished six."

Misty paused for a moment. "If these Masterballs are so amazing and you can make them out of Ultraballs then why haven't I ever seen any on the market or heard about them anywhere else? For that matter why don't you mass produce them and make a huge profit?"

"All good questions" Oak said, "and all have relatively simple answers… Masterballs are amazingly difficult and time consuming to construct. I would spend between six and seven months just making one. And as for your other question, I'm the only person alive who knows how to make them and I don't want the secret getting out so I've only made two over the course of my life, both of which I gave to the Elite Four in exchange for the money and materials to set up this lab."

"I'm still not sure I buy it," said Misty, incredulous. "If you've only made two then why would you be willing to make six now?"

"Look around," said Oak. "I made the Masterballs in the first place to get the money to set up this lab. Now that the lab is destroyed I need to start over and frankly I don't have the capital to do it on my own. I'd plan to sell two for the money to start up another laboratory, I'd keep one for myself, I'd give my grandson one to help him on his journey, and I'd give you two since it would have been you that enabled me to make them to start with. Does that sound like a fair deal?"

Misty sighed and cast about the room for a moment. "It sounds too good to be true… but you've got a deal _**if**_ you throw in something to sweeten the deal."

"Name it," said Oak calmly. "I don't have anything notably valuable but I'd trade any single thing in this lab."

"Two items actually," said Misty, holding up two fingers to emphasize her point. "Body armor, two sets of it," she went on, "one for me and one for Ash. Having the strongest Pokémon in the world won't do us much good if some flying debris or a lucky hit from a wild Pokémon kills us in one shot."

"Ah," said the professor as if the request caught him off guard. "I can't guarantee that I have anything that will fit but I'll take a look around. Actually," he paused. "They might have something at the guardhouse out by the palisade. I'll go have a quick look."

"No rush, I'll wait," said Misty, crossing her arms and smirking a little.

The rest of the night was quiet. After having checked through the guardhouse, Oak returned with two sets of light, rudimentary, armor consisting of hardened, black, plastic plates fitted over a dark green, woven cloth backing to protect the wearers' core vital areas, forearms, and shins. He even came back with a pair of protective boots for Misty. The two quickly completed their transaction, then had dinner with Ash and filled him in on their deal.

By that point in the night Ash had recovered almost completely and Oak judged it was safe for him to move around more energetically. The risk, he judged, of reopening the wound was minimal. Ash then tried on the armor, making sure that it fit securely over his clothes and, having verified that it would not noticeably hamper his movement, packed it away for the night. Misty did likewise, impressed that the Professor picked out boots and equipment that fit her, then suggested that, if Ash and Misty were to get an early start, everyone turn in for the night.

At Ash's behest, Misty took the bed while the professor slept on the floor. Ash took a brief watch with Pikachu and Growlithe, using the time to further assess the newly captured Pokémon. He instructed Pikachu to patrol the upper level of the laboratory while he and Growlithe held a stationary position at the remnants of the entrance. Throughout the four hour shift, Ash inched incrementally closer to Growlithe, a fact the Pokémon did not fail to notice, but never once did Growlithe move to back away.

"See," said Ash, slowly extending his hand towards the wary Pokémon. It was now just after eleven. "I'm not a monster," he went on, very slowly putting his hand on top of Growlithe's head and scratching his fur, making absolutely sure not to let his fingers come anywhere near the canine's neck. "But I am your master," he said, holding the Pokémon's full attention. "And you will obey me."

Ash couldn't be sure how much Growlithe understood, different Pokémon grasped different aspects of language, but he knew that Growlithe got the gist of it. The orange Pokémon stood up a moment later, growling. Ash withdrew his hand and stood up, wondering what he'd done to provoke the Pokémon. A second later he realized it was nothing of his making. Growlithe stalked to the edge of the ruined laboratory and leered off into the darkness, growling feraly and hunkering down to the ground.

_What is it?_ Ash wondered, ducking behind a large bit of collapsed roof and following Growlithe's glare. _And where's Pikachu?_

Several minutes passed without any manifestation of what the Pokémon saw in the dark and slowly Growlithe grew quiet and seemed to relax. Ash remained wary, staring into the gloom until Pikachu emerged from the blackness behind him, fur beginning to prickle up. "You saw it too?" asked Ash in a whisper. Pikachu's fur laid down a little and the yellow Pokémon passed by Ash and stood next to Growlithe. Both Pokémon remained alert, though neither made any move to proceed into the dark.

"I'm going to turn in," said Ash. "Be careful you two."

When Ash descended into the basement he found Oak fast asleep on a pile of blankets in the corner opposite Misty's bed. Ash got a loose blanket from the pile without disturbing the Professor and lay down on the floor, closer to the bed than to Oak. Misty rolled over and looked down at him, only able to see via the illuminated numbers on the face of the cheap alarm clock on the makeshift end table next o the bed.

"Everything alright?" she asked quietly.

Ash nodded. "Pikachu and Growlithe saw something outside the lab," he answered, pulling the blanket up to his waist and putting his hands behind his head as he lay on his back on the concrete floor. "It was probably just a Rattata or something, but it bothered them a little."

"Should I send up Blastoise?"

"I don't think it's anything important," said Ash. "Pikachu knows to raise the alarm if anything happens. I'd just be sure that I could get to my Pokémon quickly…"

Misty shrugged and rolled onto her back, not saying anything else. Ash sighed and closed his eyes. He grimaced at the churning in his stomach, trying to convince himself that there was nothing he should be apprehensive about and knowing full well he was lying to himself. Pallet Town was gone, he tried to make himself realize that when he woke up in the morning that he wouldn't be in his bed in his room and that his mother wouldn't be downstairs making breakfast and insisting he do more to take care of himself. The thought of his mother sitting in her chair in the living room as she often did, reading late into the night, brought a tightness to his chest.

_Did I tell her I loved her before I left?_ Ash wondered, the question making him heartsick. He couldn't remember.

SC

By the time Misty woke up from a deep sleep, Oak and Ash had already gotten around to going upstairs and packing supplies into the young trainers backpack. Misty yawned and got up, straightening herself out a little and putting on her new boots. She pursed her lips, a little uncomfortable with how awkward the new footwear looked when paired with her grimy, tattered clothes. It wasn't important though, she told herself, getting up and grabbing her pack from beside the bed. She quickly donned the cheap body armor Oak had brought the night before and went upstairs to join Ash and the Professor.

"Good morning," said Professor Oak nonchalantly when Misty arrived. He looked her over quickly and approvingly, gesturing to the armor and nodding to Ash who had likewise put his on. "I'm glad to see it fits. It might not be top of the line, but it's definitely better than having nothing at all. It will stop most flying debris if nothing else."

"Are we about ready to leave then?" asked Misty, noting that Ash already had his pack laced up and across his back.

The young trainer nodded. "I'm good whenever you are."

Stepping back to give his grandson a last onceover, Oak crossed his arms. "You've got the map and directions to Bill's," said Oak, as much to himself and for his own sake as for Ash and Misty to hear. "You've got the extra field rations, the Greatballs, the extra medical supplies… that's everything isn't it?"

"Sounds like we're ready," said Misty.

"I'll see you Grandpa," said Ash, giving Oak a parting hug before he and Misty made for the exit where Pikachu and Growlithe were both waiting for them.

"Don't forget to contact me when you get to Bill's!" Oak called after them.

The two trainers left the lab and rounded a corner, disappearing from Oak's sight. The Professor sighed and reached around behind his back. He took a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it to the ground. The white energy spilling out of the ball quickly took the roughly humanoid shape of the Professor's trusted Alakazam and the Pokémon, needing no cue other than the thought in the man's mind, took up a position behind Oak as the Professor began rummaging through the remains of his once grand laboratory.

As they left the ruins of Pallet Town via the gate in the palisade neither Ash nor Misty turned to look back at the village. Escorted by Pikachu, Growlithe, and Misty's Blastoise, the two trainers began the journey in silence. It was just before dawn when they set out and neither one spoke before the sun had trekked two hours into the sky, and then it was Ash who broke the silence.

"So you never did tell me where you were from," he asked, his voice as crisp as the cool morning's air. By now he and Misty were pushing through Route 1's thick golden grass, neither one making any particular effort to be quiet. "And all I can come up with is that you're probably from around Cerulean City. Am I close?" He grinned a little bit, seeing Misty twitch just a little from the corner of his eye. He thought nothing of it.

Misty didn't answer right away. "That's right," she said a moment later, almost under her breath. Her tone brightened a little as she went on though. "But I've been wandering for a while now. I've spent quite a bit of my time in and around Mt. Moon, exploring some of the passes and the deeper tunnels."

"Wow, I've only ever heard of the tunnels beneath the mountain," said Ash. "The ones running through Mt. Moon are dangerous enough but I've heard some horror stories from Grandpa about the lower caves and passages."

"It was pretty tough," said Misty. "And I didn't go very deep. But Blastoise," she patted the large Pokémon, walking on all fours beside her and rumbling happily to himself, with one hand on the side of his shell.

"What were you looking for down there?" asked Ash.

Misty shrugged. "I'd heard some rumors that there might be treasure down in the lower tunnels. But I left before I could find anything valuable. It was just too dangerous. Treasure isn't worth your life," she laughed a little.

"No," no it isn't," replied Ash.

By the time noon rolled around Ash and Misty had travelled what they judged to be more than half the distance between Pallet and Viridian. The morning had gone by without major incident. Misty had put Blastoise back in his pokeball to him some rest. The pair decided to take a brief respite under the cover of a lone tree jutting up in the sea of grass and enjoy their lunch. Ash guessed that it was the same tree under which he and Pikachu had rested before running into Growlithe.

"You know," said Ash, standing up after finishing his seedcake. He glanced around as much of the plane as he could and set his gaze on a not so distant patch of wooded brush. Misty still sat under the tree and worked on her rations in the shade. "I caught Growlithe less than a mile from here," he said, pointing to the thicket a stone's throw away. "It was right over there in that brush."

Misty followed his motion but couldn't see over the top f the grass and she didn't bother to stand. "What are you thinking?" she casually inquired. "Want to go have a look?"

"You read my mind," Ash nodded. "I want to go have another look at the place, see what happened. That is if you don't mind."

Misty finished her seedcake and stood up, releasing Blastoise from his Pokeball. "I don't mind," she answered. "You were going to go look anyway and somebody has to keep an eye on you." She grinned a little and Ash returned the smile.

Blastoise in front, Pikachu and Growlithe behind, Misty and Ash carefully made their way across the plane to the edge of the thicket where the grass suddenly stopped growing, replaced by tangled bushes and hardy trees. Ash stepped forward, passed Blastoise and peered into the thicket. Just as the day before, the brush remained thick enough that he couldn't see to the little island's center so, keeping Growlithe close beside him and Pikachu ready on his shoulder, Ash proceeded inside. Misty moved around the perimeter a bit and began her approach from the flank, keeping Ash with eyeshot.

Prepared this time, Ash took a handkerchief from his pocket and tied it over his nose, tucking the bottom of the cloth under his shirt's collar and breathing through his mouth. Even so, when he broke into the glade in the middle the scent was all but overwhelming and made his eyes water. The sight also nearly made him. Many of the dead Growlithe were in the early stages of decomposition and the trainer who lay more in the pond than out was farther along than any of the Pokémon.

A quick hiss from Pikachu instantly put Ash on alert and when the yellow Pokémon's fur burst into a coat of needles, some of which poked Ash's cheeks like razor-grass, the trainer took a quick step backwards. "Where-" Ash stopped, seeing the large mass laying only a few paces in front of him. "Oh," he muttered.

Laying collapsed and ostensibly dead in a feathered heap on the ground was a Fearow. Growlithe caught the bird's scent and immediately jumped into the clearing, less than a meter from the Fearow, and began barking and growling. Ash saw Misty emerging from the brush with Blastoise off to his right,

Ash took another step back when the Fearow stirred and raised its head up to look at the by now roaring Growlithe. The bird's long, bloodied neck spasmed and twitched, as though holding up its head was mammothly burdensome. Slowly it set itself back down, still looking at Ash with one eye and breathing in small motions, making the blood-matted feathers grind against one another.

_It's barely hanging on,_ thought Ash, a pang of guilt lancing into his chest.

Growlithe howled and cast itself forward, teeth bared to bite and rend. Fearow closed its eye and Ash saw its body relax just a little as Growlithe closed the gap between them in an instant.

"Stop!" Ash barked, his voice echoing through the thicket like a quick thunderclap. Misty jerked in surprise and Growlithe instantly skidded to a halt. The canine leered back at Ash for only a second before whirling back on the Fearow watch lacked the energy to even open an eye to observe the action. "**Down**!" Ash's voice boomed again, louder even than before.

Growlithe stumbled and sat as though compelled irresistibly by the simple command. It's jaw snapped shut as a whimper escaped its throat as Ash moved forward. Growlithe shuffled/scooted backwards as Ash placed himself between the canine and the Fearow, grabbing a pokeball from his belt. He threw the ball at the bird and it stopped just short of the matted feathers and snapped open. The Fearow disappeared in a white light which the pokeball greedily sucked up. The orb clicked closed and dropped to the ground.

Misty, wearing an expression akin to shock, watched as Ash stepped forward and picked up the pokeball. He checked it quickly and attached it to his belt. Misty snapped from her daze and stepped with Blastoise into the clearing as Ash knelt down in front of Growlithe. The little canine acted as though it was going to recoil from Ash's touch, but remained still. For a long moment the young trainer, Pikachu silently sitting on his shoulder, scratched the back of Growlithe's head and behind his ears, eventually succeeding in coaxing Growlithe to relax and even go so far as pant and wag his tail a little.

Misty watched the entire exchange, amazed by how quickly Growlithe went from cowed and punished pup to a tail-wagging and bright-eyed dog that, if she hadn't known better, she would have assumed had been Ash's companion for months. That, she told herself, was not normal. Trainers, even trainers as old and experienced as Professor Oak, much less as young and green as Ash Ketchum, shouldn't be able to exert that kind of influence.

"The Fearow should be stable now that it's in the pokeball," said Ash, standing up and giving Growlithe a final, friendly, pat on the side. "Once we get to Viridian I want to take it to the Pokémon Center and see if we can't get it patched up."

Misty nodded. _How did you do that?_ she wanted to ask. _Nobody should be able to control a Pokémon as enraged as that Growlithe and then go on to pet it and play with it, especially not a rookie…_ "That was impressive," she said instead.

"The Fearow was already had both claws in the grave," Ash said. "Catching it was as simple as throwing the pokeball."

"Not what I meant," Misty shook her head and glanced down at Growlithe, now looking up at Ash and panting, letting its tongue hang from its mouth. "Most trainers take years to gain that kind of respect."

Ash cocked his head off to one side a little. "What do you mean?"

Misty looked at him dumbly for a moment. _How could you not know you just exercised perfect control over a blood-drunk Pokémon? _She almost blurted. _How can you be so casual about being able to stop a raging Pokémon, even if it is just a Growlithe, with so little effort?_

"Never mind," said Misty, flustered. "Let's just check the trainer's body and get out of here before the smell draws anything else."

Muscling past the urge to gag, Ash and Misty worked together to pull the dead trainer's cadaver from the water. Misty stepped back and simply observed as Ash rolled the body over. "Not exactly a flashy dresser," he said, commenting on the olive-drab uniform worn by the man. Holding one hand to his face and pressing the handkerchief closer to his nose, Ash reached into the jacket pocket of the corpse and pulled out a wallet.

A card fluttered to the ground and landed beside Ash's boot, but the trainer let it be as he opened the wallet and sifted through it. "A little bit of money," he said, drawing a few messily folded bills from the wallet and slipping them into his own pocket. "Not much else though, not even an ID," he tossed the wallet aside and picked up the card in the grass, looking it over quickly.

"Oh, scratch that," he went on, holding the unassuming card out to Misty. She took it and scanned it.

"So he was a member of the Viridian Gym," noted Misty. "Jonathan Dread… interesting name if nothing…" she trailed off as her eyes caught the little motif embossed in the lower right corner of the card, the letters 'TR' cast in red enamel. "TR," Misty mumbled reflexively.

"I saw that too," said Ash, turning back to the corpse and quickly rummaging through some of the pockets inside the man's vest. "Any idea what it means?" He pulled out a small leather purse and shook it. Coins jingled inside and he slipped reached around his back, putting it in his pack.

"No," Misty answered immediately, flicking the card away. "Ash we're leaving right n-"

A deafening buzz came out of nowhere and Ash looked up just in time to see an enormous insect screaming straight towards him, two enormous stingers poised to drill into his chest. Reflexively Ash shouted "Thundershock!"

Pikachu, already alert, appeared by Ash's side in a flash of speed, cheeks already sparking and in the middle of unleashing a bolt of electricity. The yellow javelin of energy slammed into the approaching Beedrill and exploded across its exoskeleton in a flickering web. The insect's red compound eyes burst like tomatoes smashing into a brick wall as the frail Pokémon died instantly.

Still carried by inertia the Beedrill barreled into Ash's chest and knocked him to the ground. One stinger scraped across that hard plastic plate protecting Ash's chest and left a smoking rivulet in the material. Ash rolled backwards with the cadaver and tumbled into the small pond.

Misty whirled towards where the Beedrill had come and threw a pokeball than snapped open and released her purple Starmie. "Who's there?" she yelled as Ash reached the bottom of the small pond and threw off the Beedrill's corpse. "Come out!"

Flanked by another Beedrill, a trainer dressed in a uniform identical to that of the dead trainer emerged from the trees. "So you two are the ones who killed my partner," she said, tossing her ebon hair out of her face and glaring angrily at Misty. "Twin Needle!" she shouted, prompting the second Beedrill to rocket forward towards Misty.

"Hydropump!" Misty retaliated and instantly water jets as big around as a man's fist roared out of Blastoise's cannons. The jets smashed into the Beedrill just as the Pokémon closed to within four meters of Misty, shearing the insect into numerous distinct pieces and scattering said pieces. Then, unordered, Blastoise turned on the stunned new arrival and fired a single missile of hyper-pressurized water at her.

"Shi-" the other trainer swore, unable to dodge and taking the bullet square in the leg. Her knee snapped backwards and her pretty face contorted in pain as she dropped to one side, barely propping herself up on her elbow.

Ash gasped loudly as he broke to the surface of the pond and took a deep breath. The Beedrill had knocked the wind out of him and beneath the surface of the pond there was nothing for him to breathe. He glanced quickly from Pikachu, sitting nervously on the side of the pond and chittering frantically at Ash, to Growlithe who was growling but remaining out of sight off in some brush. Another trainer, a girl Ash thought, had just gone down on the edge of the clearing.

"Fuck you!" screeched the girl, spitting at Misty. "I swear to god I'm going to rip you a new-" she stopped and stared at the redhead for only a second. "Misty?" she asked quickly as though she couldn't believe what she saw.

Misty's face froze in a mask of horror as she glanced at Ash from the corner of her eye. "Starmie! Double-Edge!" she shouted.

Quick as a thought the purple Pokémon flung itself through the air, spinning like a shuriken towards the downed trainer. Ash could barely process what Misty had said before Starmie passed by the trainer, stopped in midair and turned around to face the now silent woman.

Misty breathed a sigh and watched as the trainer's head lolled off to one side, then kept shifting farther until it fell from her shoulders completely, tumbling across the ground as her truncated torso collapsed. Blood poured from the corpse's neck like water from an overfull pitcher and pooled in the grass. The head's lips shifted only a second, unable to form sounds without a larynx or lungs, before the eyes glazed and faded.

Ash stood, waist deep in the dirty water and stared, shocked at the scene. Misty looked over at him and they looked at each other. Ash's stunned gaze met Misty's expressionless façade and he shook himself and walked out of the pond without a word. Pikachu hopped back up on his shoulders and watched Misty like a rabbit watches a cat.

"She was down already," said Ash.

"I didn't know if she had anymore tricks," said Misty, not looking away from Ash. "It was the safe thing to do."

"I-" Ash hesitated and kept staring at the decapitated body. "We really should leave."

Misty nodded. "I'll see you outside in a second."

Ash acknowledged her with a nod and walked out of the thicket, accompanied by Pikachu and Growlithe. He didn't look back to see what Misty was doing, he simply went to the edge of the thicket, leaned against one of the trees, and stared out over the sea of golden grass. He thought for several minutes. He looked down at his breastplate and traced his fingers across the scratch from the Beedrill, knowing that, even though the Pokémon had been dead upon striking him, if not for the armor the blow likely would have killed him. His face grew progressively harder as his thoughts churned, uninterrupted until Misty emerged from the brush behind him, followed by Blastoise.

"Are you alright?" she asked as soon as she cleared the brush.

Ash shrugged. "I'm alive," he said. "I wouldn't be if that other trainer had gotten her way… so I guess I'm doing alright. Did the body have anything useful on it?"

"A little money," said Misty. "I took the two Beedrill's pokeballs. There was also a small medical kit… pretty standard stuff."

"We should keep moving if that's it then," said Ash, pushing himself up off the tree and looking around to get his bearings. "We're not far from Viridian now."

"Right," said Misty. She reached over and touched Ash's shoulder. "You're sure you're good?"

"Positive," said Ash. "That wasn't the first corpse I've seen," he gave her a quick grin, only having to force the smile a little.

SC

Viridian City sprung up rapidly from the plains. Beyond a protective ditch filled with water and bordered on the inside by a palisade not unlike Pallet Town's lay the successful (at least as successful as a city on the frontier could be expected to be) city. Two guards at the Southern entrance to the city, both sporting uniforms of the Viridian Gym and each guarded by a Machoke, stopped Ash and Misty but let them pass after recognizing Ash as Professor Oak's grandson. When asked about his business in Viridian, Ash mentioned the disaster at Pallet Town and both guards offered their condolences.

Beyond the gate the city seemed to spring out of nothing. Being contained within a wall and moat did not allow the city the luxury of outskirts and most of the buildings along the borders of the town were just as large as the structures in the center, giving both Ash and Misty the impression that they were instantly immersed in the city. People were bustling about their noontime business and the streets, while wide, were crowded, compelling Ash and Misty to stay close or risk being separated.

"The Pokémon Center is just East of here," said Ash as they reached an intersection. He pointed off to the large and plainly visible building with a whitewashed walls and a red roof. The Center took up the better part of a city block and the trainers, having since returned their Pokémon to their pokeballs, minus Pikachu who remained on Ash's shoulder, made their way to the center.

Entering through the big double doors was like stepping into a hospital, a restaurant, and a hotel all rolled into one. Across from the entrance was a counter with a clerk behind at a register, ostensibly the manager of the hotel division. To that desk's right there was a tiled hallway marked by a hanging sign with directions to the emergency room. Opposite that hall the lobby opened up into another section of the building, this one occupied by tables and chairs and booths. The big lobby was, compared to the streets outside, very quiet and the trainers slipped off to one side to discuss exactly what to do.

"How long are we planning on staying?" asked Misty. "Do you think we'll need a room for the night?"

Ash nodded. "I'd plan on it. Fearow is going to be in critical condition and even with the care we can get here it's probably going to be more than a few hours."

"Alright," said the orange haired trainer. "I'll get a room and get things settled."

"I'm taking Fearow to the emergency room then. Try keep us on a budget."

Misty nodded. "I can do that. As soon as I get that taken care of I'll come find you in the hospital wing."

* * *

AN: Well I'm glad that everyone has seemed to like what I'm doing so far. I was a little leery going in, knowing that Pokemon isn't exactly the most ... serious of subjects on the internet, but I think it's turning out pretty well thus far.

Input is always welcome.

Peace!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – Team Rocket

Much to Ash's relief, the nurse had said Fearow was going to pull through. The care was not going to be cheap or quick, eating up all of the money Ash and Misty had recovered from the dead trainers earlier in the day and then some, but Ash was happy to pay the cost and Misty had contributed her spoils. Now, Misty having gone off to do a little shopping for the road with what money she had left, Ash sat with Growlithe and Pikachu in the lobby of the hospital wing of the Pokémon Center.

The room was large and spacious, more of a lounge than a waiting room, decorated with airy pastels and sporting several TVs along one wall. Numerous couches and comfortable armchairs dotted the floor space and Ash occupied one of the latter, sitting and not paying much attention to anything except the Pokémon around him. With one hand he rubbed Pikachu under his chin and with the other he scratched Growlithe behind the ears, much to the joy of the half-dozing canine beside the chair. Only vaguely was the trainer aware of the dozen other people in the room, all of whom, he imagined, were in a situation somewhat similar to his own.

Nevertheless, even Ash noticed when the lobby's frosted glass doors opened and three figures, two humans and a Pokémon, strutted in noisily and, with absolutely no grace about them, paced to the counter. Ash glanced up, having picked a chair that faced the nurse's register behind the counter, and instinctively sized up the noisy new arrivals. The first things he noticed about them were their hairstyles and their gaudy clothes.

The man wore his sapphire blue hair short and unkempt and the woman wore her unnaturally red hair in a thick ponytail that dropped passed her waist. Both of them wore black, calf-high and brightly polished boots, and white shirts emblazoned with a massive 'R' an even brighter shade of red than the woman's hair. Based on their outfits and the feline Meowth standing between them, Ash could only guess at their occupation. _Circus performers maybe,_ he thought.

Growlithe, stirred by the obtrusive entrance, took immediate notice of the Meowth and began to growl quietly to himself as his eyes focused on the cat. In response, Ash put his hand on the scruff of Growlithe's neck. "Easy," said the trainer.

"Is that all?" said the man with the blue hair, loud enough for everyone in the spacious lobby to hear plainly. "The service here is so inexpensive. We couldn't ask for a better deal, could we Jesse?" He turned to the redhead beside him who vigorously shook her head.

"I don't think we could James," Jesse responded, equally as loud. "The service here is just too good to be true."

Ash twitched as James looked his direction and caught Ash's eye. The man with the blue hair glanced between Ash, Pikachu, and Growlithe several times in rapid succession and then grinned too widely to be genuine. Much to the young Ketchum's despair, the two noisy trainers and their Meowth turned from the counter and began walking his direction, making sure to greet everyone they passed by as cheerily as possible.

_Oh god,_ Ash mentally braced himself as Jesse and James sat down next to each other on the sofa adjacent to his armchair. Without really thinking Ash pushed his backpack, which till now had sat undisturbed on the ground between his feet, a little farther under the chair.

"Are you new around here?" asked James amicably, at a much more reasonable volume. "You look familiar but I don't think we've met," James extended his gloved hand. "My name's James. I represent Team Rocket and it's a real pleasure to meet you."

_Team Rocket,_ Ash thought. The name stuck in his mind, though he had no idea why, as he reached out, smiled, and shook James' hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum," he responded. "And I'm not really new; I'm just passing through on my way to Cerulean."

"Ketchum," Jesse hummed as though thinking. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"I don't know Jesse," said James. "It does ring a bell though."

Ash grinned just a little. "Well, my grandfather is Professor Oak," he said. Ash had never been ashamed of his lineage and he'd never hesitated to tell someone about his grandfather.

"That must be it!" James exclaimed. "That's right I knew it all along," he went on, putting his hand up behind his head and laughing once.

_Are these guys for real,_ Ash wondered as he forced himself to grin.

"So you're the famous Ash Ketchum," said the man with the blue hair, "the one from Pallet Town, which certainly explains why you can be so calm about making a journey as dangerous as the one to Cerulean City. What are you doing in Viridian though? Are you just stopping in for the night?"

Ash nodded, relaxing just a little. "Mostly," he said. "I caught a Fearow earlier today," he watched as both Jesse's and James's eyes widened. "But it got hurt in the process so I brought it here to the hospital. The nurses said that I'd probably be here overnight but that's alright with me. I'm in no real hurry and it's not too expensive to stay here."

"That just won't do," said Jesse, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small billfold. "Will it James."

James shook his head as Jesse pulled out several colorful banknotes and held them out, motioning for Ash to take them. "Of course it won't do," he said. "The grandson of the great Professor Oak shouldn't have to pay for a thing while he's here… and **Team Rocket** will most certainly see to it that he doesn't."

"No," said Ash, holding up his hand to decline the offer. "I really couldn't."

"Of course you can," said Jesse, beaming as she thrust the money into Ash's palm and closed his fingers around it with her other hand. "That is unless it's not enough."

Ash glanced at the denominations on the bills and gawked. "It's way too much," said the trainer. "This would pay for all of my expenses ten times over. I can't-"

"Team Rocket wouldn't have it any other way," said James as Ash relented and accepted the bills to Jesse's ostensible delight. "Really we should probably pay for it twenty times over but we need to save a little to donate to the homeless shelter."

"I guess, if you guys insist," said Ash, slipping the money into the pocket on the side of his pack. "So you two mentioned that you were with Team Rocket?" he probed, wanting a little more information on the organization. "What exactly do you do?"

Eyes lighting up, James stood up from his chair and proudly crossed his arms. "Team Rocket is an organization working for the betterment of people and Pokémon everywhere," he declared. "Using whatever means available we boldly serve whatever community we find ourselves in and put all of our strength towards making people and Pokémon safe and secure from the wilds of the world. Here," he said quickly, pulling from his pocket a white pen decorated with red Ts and Rs. "Have a complimentary pen, courtesy of Team Rocket."

Ash took the pen, not sure what to make of it, and slipped it into his backpack.

"Team Rocket," said Jesse, standing up to join James and speaking loudly again now, "is a group of civil servants dedicated to the protect the world from devastation-"

"and to unite all people into one nation," said James.

"We fight to extol the virtues of truth and love," continued Jesse, nearly musical now.

"And to extend mankind's reach to the stars above," James broke in.

"Team Rocket will blast off at the speed of light!" they said in unison standing and pointing off into space. "So heed the call and join the fight."

"Meowth!" added the feline Pokémon. "That's right."

If everyone in the room hadn't been looking at the two Rocket members before they began their performance, every eye in the lobby now trained on them and, due to his proximity to them, Ash. The young Ketchum sank a little lower into his chair as his face reddened. _I don't know these people,_ he wanted to say.

"My," said Ash, regaining Jesse and James's attention, "you two certainly are… fervent."

"We believe in the cause," said James. "Everyone in Team Rocket joined the good fight because their heart goes out to the cause."

"Say," said Jesse, putting one finger on her cheek. "You seem like a guy with his heart in the right place. Would you be interested in joining Team Rocket? We have an amazing dental plan."

"Yeah," said James enthusiastically. "Professor Oak's grandson would make a great addition to the good fight. What do you say? Want to join?"

Ash made himself smile but put up his hands. "Not today," he said. "I'll think about it though. You guys seem honest enough." _Even if this is a totally transparent attempt to recruit me…_

"Alright," said James. "Well, if you ever change your mind Team Rocket is never hard to get a hold of. You can find our representatives almost anywhere and if you ever mention us to any other Team Rocket member they'll be more than happy to help you however they can."

"That's right," said Jesse as both she and James turned for the door. "We really hope to have you join the Team Rocket family sometime in the future!"

After a quick wave to the still staring spectators and another extended goodbye with Ash, Jesse and James made a quick exit and the lobby went quiet again. Once he was sure that they were gone and wouldn't be back anytime soon, Ash got up and walked to the nurses register.

"Excuse me," he said to the brown haired nurse across the counter. He handed her the small paper he'd been given to identify him as the trainer who had dropped off Fearow. "I'm going to leave for a bit. Is there any way for you to contact me if anything comes up with my Fearow?"

The nurse took a quick look at the paper and glanced up at him. "Ash Ketchum," she read his name. "Are you registered and staying in this hotel?"

Ash nodded.

"Well then there's no problem. If we get any news on the condition of your Pokémon we'll have a message sent to your room."

"Thanks very much," said Ash, turning away and walking for the exit, tailed by Growlithe. "I think I need to get some fresh air."

SC

"… flashlights, batteries, tinder, matches, antiseptic," Misty muttered to herself, ticking off each item on her mental list as she left the store and tucked the plastic bag of new supplies into her backpack. "I think that's everything… but I can't believe how expensive the trail rations I bought were." She started down the busy sidewalk, taking care not to jostle into anyone as she made for the Pokémon Center. She crossed the street and stopped on the other side, seeing a militia surplus store and finding herself walking towards the door by instinct.

_It's not like I have anywhere to be,_ she told herself, opening the glass door and walking inside the shop. _I'm in no rush and these places always have useful bits._ She greeted the aged storekeeper who sat half asleep behind the counter next to the door, then began browsing the racks of camouflaged clothes, hats, masks, combat boots, and various semi-military-grade supplies. The nearly empty store smelled of musty canvas and metal, aromas that Misty readily breathed in deep.

"I love shops like," she stopped, turning a blind corner created by two shelves of canteens and backpacks and nearly tripped over a hunched figure. Her knee knocked him in the shoulder, pushing the figure to the ground, and Misty stumbled, grabbing onto a self to catch her balance. "Sorry," she uttered quickly. "I didn't see you there."

"It's alright," said Ash, standing up just as he realized it was Misty that had almost knocked them both to the ground. "Oh," he blurted. "Hi. This is kind of a pleasant surprise."

Realization dawned across Misty's face as she recognized Ash and helped him to his feet. "Likewise, what are you doing here?"

Ash shrugged, then gestured down to the rack he'd been examining. On the rings were numerous short-bladed tools of all different makes. Batons ending in steel tips hung next to hatchets which hung next to long knives. "I was thinking about picking up a knife or a hand axe or something," he said. "It never hurts to have one," he paused as Misty knelt down and began picking through the implements. "Plus I just really like stores like this. There are always cool little odds and ends to look at."

"Hmm, yeah. I've always had a thing for surplus stores," Misty acknowledged. "Well since we've met up again," she changed subjects. "Why don't we get something to eat? There are a few good restaurants around here and we're probably going to be staying the night… I assume," she probed for an answer.

"Yeah, Fearow is going to be a while…" Ash confirmed and reached down, taking a composite-handled knife from the rack as Misty examined some of the other merchandise. "Did you have anything in mind as far as food goes?"

"Anything that's edible," said Misty

Ash looked the blade over for a minute, noting the serrated back, the especially fine edge, and the odd, almost obsidian look of the knife. The tool felt like a brick in his hand and when he glanced at the rating of the steel he knew why. "Check this out," he said, holding the knife for Misty to see. "Tungsten-carbide," he said as Misty read the rating stamped on the side of the blade. "How a thing like this wound up in a place like this I'll never know, but it's mine."

"Wow," muttered the girl. "Wow," she repeated as she grinned. "It's your lucky day." Picking up a hatchet for herself and standing up Misty turned to Ash and felt the tool in her hand, twirling it around once as Ash made himself familiar with the odd balance of the extremely heavy knife. "I think this will do," she said, satisfied with the hatchet. "Ready?"

"Yep," Ash nodded as they both turned to the counter.

As Ash approached the counter, he grabbed a simple canvas sheathe from a rack near the store's collection of boots, and set both items on the counter in front of the sleepy old man, rousing him from his lethargy. "C'mon," Ash motioned for Misty to put her hatchet among the merchandise. "My treat," he said.

"If you insist," said Misty, setting the tool down next to the knife. "I thought you were broke?"

Ash shook his head. "I had a little more than I thought." He also wanted to get rid of the money Team Rocket had given him… partly on principle but mostly because he wasn't sure it was legitimate.

Nonetheless, the old man rang up the price, accepted Ash's money, and gave him back his change. Both trainers thanked the shopkeeper and left. Ash was thankful to be rid of at least some of the suspect money, and overjoyed to have found his new favorite toy. Misty hadn't said anything as her companion had paid the exorbitant price for the merchandise, but commented on it when they were outside.

"I'm surprised you could afford that," said Misty. "That kind of cash could have paid for a night's stay in a really nice hotel."

Ash grinned a little. "I really wanted it," he said. "And it's not like there are any _really_ nice hotels in Viridian anyway. The Pokémon Center is about as luxurious as you'll get here and it's still pretty bare. Besides," he trailed off for a second. "My dad had something kind of like this once. It's silly but he had a tool set with a bunch of drill bits that were tipped in carbide so… you get the idea."

"Yeah," said Misty. "I think that's sweet," she paused, "in a roundabout sort of way."

"So what did you want to eat?" Ash asked, changing the subject.

Misty blinked as the sun came out from behind a cloud and lit up the streets. "Whatever we can afford," she said. "The food at the Center is pretty good and it's not that expensive and with as much as I'm going to be eating that's a good thing."

"Sounds good to me," Ash nodded as they changed direction and began walking back towards the big building which, in all likelihood, was the most prominent structure in the town, minus the Viridian Gym. Ash and Misty passed the by the Gym on their way back to the Pokémon Center, stopping for a minute to allow Ash to remark on the imposing edifice.

Built mostly in the style of a gothic church the façade of the building was carved from solid rock, faced with limestone, and accented with black obsidian that ran up the pillars like necrotic vines. Green verdigris framed the multicolored windows which all sat high on the walls, just beneath the spires which stuck up in the air like teeth and sported ornamentation of the same black stone that twisted decoratively up the pillars. The most outstanding feature of the gym from ground level was without any doubt the colossal double door. Massive wooden slabs comprised the main structure of the portals, though this could not be seen from the outside of the building for the huge steel scales bolted to the door.

"This is amazing," Ash muttered. "I've only ever seen it from a distance but … wow."

Misty slowed but kept walking. "Yeah," she said, not stopping to look at the gym. "It's impressive but we should keep going." She quickly got ahead of Ash and the younger trainer had to jog to catch up.

"Whoa," he said when they were again walking together. "What's the rush all of a sudden."

Misty looked over her shoulder. "Nothing. I just don't want to stop around there."

Ash didn't press the issue and they kept moving, reaching the Pokémon Center just as Ash explained, after Misty inquired, that he'd left Pikachu and Growlithe in the rented room to rest up. The trainers walked together into the dining facilities of the Center, quickly discovering that the food court was all but abandoned. All but one or two of the fast-food stops lining the back wall of the room were shuttered and closed down. Only a few people sat at the tables and booths dispersed throughout the room, and most of them weren't having much to eat.

"This isn't quite what I expected," said Ash as he and Misty made their way to the counter.

The clerk by the register, a bright-eyed teenage girl with blonde hair and a white uniform greeted them warmly. "What can I get you today?" she asked, quite obviously focusing her attention on Ash more than Misty.

Scanning through the items on the illuminated menu on the wall, Ash raised an eyebrow. There were of course all of the items one could expect to find at such an outlet; cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, hotdogs and the like, but the food was not Ash's focus. The prices listed next to each item had a few digits too many, Ash thought. "How can you charge that much for a meal?" he asked. "Don't you think your costs are a little… excessive?"

"Is there some kind of shortage?" asked Misty.

The girl's face fell as she looked across the counter at the trainers. "I wish I could say no," she muttered, nodding to the shuttered stalls along the wall. "But you nailed it. There's a big food shortage in town and it's making running this restaurant a real problem."

"I noticed it earlier when I went to replace the rations we ate yesterday and the day before," Misty said to Ash. "When I went to the store, food was the most expensive thing there." She turned to the clerk. "Does anyone know what's causing the shortage?"

"I don't know," she said. "I imagine that if someone did then someone would be trying to fix it but I haven't heard anything on the news. All I know is that the only people selling food around town are Viridian Gym members, and their prices are so high that it's driving a lot of restaurants and grocery stores out of business."

"What?" Misty blurted. "Since when has the Viridian Gym been in the retail business?"

"Don't look at me?" said the blonde clerk, crossing her arms. "The only thing I'm sure of is that all of the farms and ranches around town have stopped selling to the local grocers. They're all selling their products to someone else and damned if I know who. The Gym must've put back a lot of food 'cause they've been the only supplier for five months. It wasn't too bad at the beginning but prices have been going up and up and up and it seems like half of the money everyone in Viridian makes has to go to buying food anymore.

"The Gym must be making a killing," she said bitterly. "So," the clerk turned back to Ash and Misty. "Is there anything you two'd like?"

Misty fell silent as Ash, partly out of pity and partly because of the growling in his stomach, placed an order which the clerk quickly relayed to the kitchen. After the clerk told them it might be a little bit the trainers walked to an empty booth along one wall and sat opposite each other. For several minutes neither one spoke and Ash decided that something was bothering his partner. What it was though, he couldn't tell.

When it became apparent that Misty wasn't going to strike up a conversation, Ash leaned one elbow on the table, rested his cheek on his knuckles, and cast about the room, scanning the faces of the other patrons present. He suddenly found himself missing Pikachu and Growlithe and wishing the two Pokémon were at his side. _I'm really glad Growlithe is taking to me so well,_ he thought with a grin. _He's a good Pokémon and when he grows into Arcanine he's going to be a powerful addition to the team._

Ash's eyes wandered across the face of a newcomer to the food court, a woman with cropped hair the color of ale. She met his glance and for a moment the two looked at each other as they both examined the other. Ash, realizing that he was being impolite, averted his gaze and immediately the woman walked to the counter of the solitary restaurant and placed an order.

Ash watched with little interest as the woman walked towards his and Misty's booth, but straightened up and paid more attention when she stopped right next to the two trainers and cleared her throat. Ash gave her another quick glance, examining her a bit more closely now and determined that she was in her early twenties, probably. She was remarkably pale and her eyes were an off shade of pale orange.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked.

Her husky voice took Ash somewhat off guard. "Uh, sure," he said, glancing about at all of the open tables. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," she replied, not impolitely as she sat down next to Ash who scooted over just a little and turned to face both Misty and the newcomer. "My name's Jennifer," said the woman, giving Ash a courteous nod and smiling at Misty. "I work with the Viridian Police Department. Are you two new in town?"

_Police,_ Ash noted. He glanced down at the pokeballs hanging at Jennifer's belt. _I missed those,_ he chided himself. For only a brief second he glanced a little farther down her leg to where her short skirt ended and her alabaster thigh began. "Not really," he said quickly, looking up to make eye contact. "We're passing through."

"We're only staying the night," Misty added some emphasis.

"Ah, gotcha," said the officer. "Well, I hate to do this but would you two mind answering a few questions for me?"

"What?" Ash and Misty both asked in unison and in equal degrees of surprise. Misty went on, "we haven't done anything wrong."

"I don't suspect you have," said Jennifer, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "But I am heading up an investigation in town and it's a new policy at the department to question anyone who's new to Viridian about what they might know about the growing food crisis. I'm not going to get too personal; I just want to see if you know anything that could help us out a little."

Misty pursed her lips but Ash spoke amicably. "Well, if that's all you need I guess we can both answer a few questions."

"Good," said the officer. "First and foremost, I need to know if either of you have information pertaining to the recent food shortages… any knowledge about who the northern farmers and who they might be selling to?"

Ash shook his head, judging from Misty's reclusiveness that he'd be doing most of the talking at this point. "I'm from south of here," he said, "Pallet Town actually. I've only been north of Viridian once or twice and even then I never stopped at any of the farms or plantations."

"Alright," said Jennifer autonomously. "Next question…"

The questions continued for the next several minutes, during which time Misty excused herself to go pick up the meals and bring both hers and Ash's and the officer's back to the booth. Jennifer ran through a dozen different questions concerning an equal number of topics and problems plaguing Viridian and Ash answered to the best of his abilities. For the most part however he could only nod or shake his head or convey his ignorance on the matters. Throughout the interview Jennifer seemed to become increasingly relaxed around Ash and Misty and even asked if they'd mind her eating with them. Neither Ash nor Misty protested.

"I'll admit," said Ash as he neared the conclusion of his dinner. "I don't know a whole lot about Viridian. Could you tell me a little about the town, officer?" he asked.

"Sure," said Jennifer. "I'd be happy to. What would you like to know?"

"For starters," said Ash. "What exactly is this 'food crisis'? You've been talking about it a lot but I have no clue what it's really about. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

Jennifer nodded and ate a french-fry. "Well, it's more complicated than this," she began, "but basically… where do I start? Viridian is a fairly big town as far as settlements on the frontier go. We get most of our food from the farms and plantations to the north and west. Those farms can afford to produce a lot of food because of the protection afforded them by the Viridian Gym which in turn kept the price of food low here for as long as I can remember. In exchange for keeping everyone safe the Gym would exact a small fee, it was never anything big, from both the farms and the people of Viridian… we just thought of it as a tax and the police let it slide since the Gym was generous and paid a lot of our expenses.

"Recently though the farms have started selling _**all**_ of their produce to another buyer. Nobody knows who it is, but now the only people who can keep Viridian fed are the Gym and all of the other people who stocked up on food before the farms started selling elsewhere. To make matters worse, the Gym has gone dark. All but a few of its trainers have vanished or moved elsewhere. The only people who've stayed at the gym are some of the more charitable folks who are trying to keep the grocery store's shelves stocked and even then… it's simplest just to say that things are getting really bad. It doesn't matter how strong the economy is when ninety percent of someone's earnings have to be spent on food."

"Wow," said Ash. "I had no idea it was like this?"

Jennifer shrugged. "That's only part of it. I've been getting reports from some of the other city police departments in the region that the same problem is starting to pop up elsewhere. Farms aren't selling to the populace anymore. They're only selling to some unknown group of people who aren't passing the food along to the people… It's worst here in Viridian but… it's a worrisome problem."

"I can only imagine," said Ash, glancing outside through the floor to ceiling windows opposite their booth. It was a few hours before sunset and the sky was still bright and warm. "Do you have any suspects? Does anyone have an idea who is creating the shortage?"

"Suspect isn't quite the right word…" said Jennifer. "It's not a crime to buy food. But we do think-" She stopped. "I'm sorry," she rapidly adjusted her tone. "I really can't talk about an ongoing investigation."

A thought occurred to Ash. "Do you think Team Rocket is involved?"

Both an uncomfortable Misty's and a surprised Jennifer's ears perked up, though it was the officer who spoke. "What makes you think it was Team Rocket?" she probed. "Most people think they're just a bunch of clownish community organizers and charity folks."

"I didn't say I thought they were involved," said Ash. "I just asked if you thought they were involved."

Jennifer stared at Ash for a moment, then realization rolled over her face. "Ash Ketchum," she said. "I knew your name was familiar. You're the grandson of Professor Oak."

Ash nodded. "That's me," he said. "And I don't really know anything about Team Rocket. I've just heard the name around and threw it out there as an idea."

Smiling just a little Jennifer shrugged. "Well, I won't presume to ask what you're doing in Viridian, but since you brought it up, yes… we do have some suspicions about Team Rocket."

"What kind of suspicions?" asked Ash.

Again, the officer shrugged. "On the surface, Team Rocket is a group of people who work as community organizers. They try to get people together and active in their local surroundings, ya' know, they do all sorts of charity work. But, what has a lot of police officers scratching their heads is how Team Rocket pays for all of its activities. Someone has to give them the money that they so readily give to anyone who will take it… but no one can get a look at their books to track all of their money. Team Rocket is an organization that works in multiple cities so as soon as one city tries to get a look at the money stream Team Rocket just shifts all of its funds to another location."

"Isn't that illegal?" asked Ash. "I thought that was called money laundering."

"There isn't much we can do to stop it," said Jennifer. "Viridian Police don't have jurisdiction in Saffron and Saffron Police don't have jurisdiction in any other city… you get the idea."

Ash nodded. "So, the police suspect Team Rocket," he said. "But there's no evidence and nothing anyone can do to get any evidence." He paused for a moment. "What do _**you**_ think is going on? What's your take on the whole situation?"

By now Jennifer had leaned back in the booth and crossed her arms, making herself comfortable. Ash guessed the officer had all but forgotten about Misty and that Misty was perfectly fine with that. "_My_ take on the issue…" said Jennifer. "The police don't pay me enough to have a solid opinion, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say that Team Rocket is the one buying up all of the food, selling it in small shipments at exorbitant prices to anyone who will buy it, and taking the ludicrous profit they make on the sale to buy up even more food."

Ash exhaled and put one hand up to his face. "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this."

"It's just an idea that's been turning over in my head for a while," she said, looking between Ash and Misty, then turning to look across the dining floor. "But knowing Team Rocket, that wouldn't surprise me at all. They've got all kinds of weird projects and messed up activities going on around the region, but they're keeping it all quiet."

"What kinds of projects?" asked Ash, even more curious now."

"Well the most recent one I've heard about is that they've set up a barricade around Cerulean Cave."

"What?" asked Misty. Ash glanced at Misty and suppressed a look of surprise. He hadn't expected that she'd speak at all, much less to the officer. "What are they doing up there?"

Jennifer held her cup and looked at the ice settled at the bottom. "Hell if I know," she said. "Why anyone would even go near that god forsaken cave is beyond my understanding. Team Rocket has set up all kinds of defensive measures around the entrance and posted guards around the perimeter. They say it's to protect the local community but from what the Cerulean Police are reporting, all of the barricades are facing outwards, away from the cave, and Team Rocket is regularly sending heavy equipment and armed envoys down into the cave."

"Wow," muttered Ash. "I've heard rumors about Cerulean Cave from my grandfather but even I know going down there is just asking to get yourself killed."

The officer agreed. "Anyway, I think I've eaten up enough of your time," said Jennifer, scooting to the edge of the booth and standing up. "And I should be getting back to the station. If either of you learn anything, please, let me know or let a police officer know."

Ash nodded. "If we figure anything out that might be useful we'll be sure to let you know."

Jennifer left the trainers after a quick salute and paced silently from the room. It wasn't until she'd left that Ash turned to Misty, who avoided making eye contact. To Ash's chagrin Misty spoke before he could ask her what was bothering her.

"Do you think your Fearow will be ready to go tonight?" she asked.

Ash shook his head. "I doubt it," he said. "The nurse made it clear to me that Fearow was going to be an all night operation. They told me it would probably be before noon tomorrow that they'd be done."

"Alright," Misty said. "Still, I'd like to go back to the room and make sure that no one left us a note or something… just to be on the safe side."

"Right," confirmed Ash, masking his hesitancy, "just to be on the safe side."

SC

Jennifer walked quickly down the sidewalk towards the police station. She was in no hurry, but years of working on the force had instilled in her a strong desire to get where she was going as efficiently and quickly as possible. She scanned through the faces that passed her on the sidewalk, autonomously recording distinctive features until she arrived at the station and disappeared inside, unaware of the eyes watching her from one of the high hotel windows across the street.

From their rented corner suite, Jesse and James could comfortably survey all of the main roads between the Pokémon Center, the Police Station, and even as far as the Viridian Gym. Furnished as more of a barracks than a hotel suite, within the room there was only a single twin bed in one corner, a simple table in the corner opposite the bed, and a refrigerator next to the table.

"Why are we fucking waiting like this?" Jesse growled, pacing from one end of the room to the other, never letting her gaze turn inwards but always looking outside through the wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows that afforded her such a perfect view of the city. "We know where she is, we know she's on to us, and we know she's made contact with Ketchum and Misty. We should just go kill the bitch now and be done with it." The scarlet hair on the back of Jesse's neck bristled as she spoke.

James, sitting comfortably with one leg crossed over the opposite knee in the chair by the table, sighed and took a sip from the crystal wine glass. Eyes closed he appeared almost asleep. "You'll get your chance," he said with casual ease, his voice devoid of emotion. "But right now the commander asks simply that we observe the situation. Also, killing a police officer in the middle of her own city would only draw attention we don't want.

"Besides," James went on, without opening his eyes, after another sip from the glass. "We have the Police Station bugged, we have men inside the Pokémon Center. No one in either location can so much as go to the bathroom without us knowing so there's no problem."

"I hate it," said Jesse, "that's the problem. It doesn't matter if we always manage to stay one step ahead of the police as long as there _are_ police who are suspicious of us. We should just kill this bitch and disappear like we always do. No one would suspect us."

"They might if you just turn Arboc loose like you always do," James said. "Mangled bodies, pools of acid, and venom and blood splattered across the walls tend to draw suspicion. It doesn't matter anyway. Command will eventually order us to eliminate Jennifer, thusly you'll get your chance to kill her. Until then, the commander simply wants us to wait."

"I know, I know," said Jesse. She crossed her arms and continued pacing. "When I do get to kill her though," she grinned a little to herself. "I'm going to have Arboc only bite her in the ankles or somewhere where she won't bleed out. I want to poison to do the job so I can watch the life drain out of her paralyzed little body. Maybe I'll even let my beautiful Arboc play around with her first, like a cat and a mouse… I do so love when my pet is having fun with people."

"Again, just be patient until we receive the kill order," said James, opening his eyes and staring across the top of his wine glass at Jesse. The redhead couldn't help but stiffen just a little as James spoke. She stopped pacing and gave him her absolute attention, waiting to speak. "We don't need our spotless record smudged by your zealotry."

Jesse nodded, then relaxed as James closed his eyes again and finished off the glass of wine. She smiled just a little and walked across the room and sat on the bed. "Fine, fine," she said. "But until the orders do come, how about we kill some time?"

James set the empty glass on the table and stood up. "Jesse dear," he said. "You read my mind."

SC

There had been no note on the door when Ash and Misty returned to their rented room on the Pokémon Center's second floor, but Misty still seemed insistent that she and Ash wait inside for news pertaining to the Pokémon's condition. The room was furbished comfortably and was only just large enough that neither trainer felt claustrophobic. There were two twin beds on opposite sides of the room, a small bathroom, and a kitchen area with a refrigerator, a table with three chairs, and a stove.

Pikachu and Growlithe had been asleep on one of the beds, curled up next to one another when the trainers arrived. Pikachu immediately leapt up into Ash's arms and skittered up to sit on his shoulder while the orange canine, panting happily enough, jumped down from the bed and walked over to the door. He sat on his haunches as though he were going to keep watch over the room and prevent any would-be intruder from entering.

"I guess this will be my bed," said Ash, sitting down on the one which Growlithe and Pikachu had occupied a moment earlier. He brushed some of the cast off orange fur from the comforter. "Do you have a minute Misty?" he asked as politely as he could.

Misty sat down on the bed opposite him and pulled her legs up indian style. "I think I can spare a moment," she said. "What's on your mind?"

Ash thought for a moment, planning out exactly how he was going to ask, and then threw all thoughts of cunning and caution from his mind. "I need to know what you know about Team Rocket," he said, point blank. No one in the room missed that Misty twitched uncomfortably. "I don't know anything about them but I still get the feeling that they're totally rotten. You on the other hand seem to be at least familiar enough with what's going on to know about Cerulean Cave, and a little about Team Rocket."

Misty didn't respond and Ash let the statement hang in the air for several long seconds. "I'm not accusing you of anything," said Ash. "I just don't feel entirely comfortable travelling with someone when I don't know whether or not they're involved in something they're not telling me about."

"I've saved your life more than once," said Misty, her voice icy. "And I've agreed to help you take this Pokedex thing to Professor Oak's friend. Isn't that enough to prove that I'm at least on your side?"

"I'm not saying you're not on my side," said Ash, trying to sound less confrontational now. "I'm not even saying there are really any sides to take. I do trust you. We've only been travelling a short time but you've already shown me that I can trust you with my life… I just need to know if you know what's going on."

Again Misty didn't answer, and again Ash just let the statement hang. He desperately wanted to ask her to tell him her story, to tell him why she was mistrusting of the police and how she knew as much as she did, but now, he told himself, would be a very bad time to press the matter. He did notice however that Misty had not made a move to go for any of her pokeballs. Growlithe and Pikachu both watched the exchange with caution and guarded interest.

"You trust me with your life." Misty said.

Ash couldn't tell whether she had made a statement or asked a question, but he nodded. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he responded.

Misty took a deep breath and stared down at the floor for another few minutes and Ash gladly let the time pass and the atmosphere warm up a little more. "I can't say a whole lot," began the orange haired trainer. "There are things I'm not going to tell you but I need you to trust me when I say that nothing I'm leaving out affects you. It's just little details about _my_ life that are _my_ business. Can we both agree to that?"

Ash nodded immediately. "Absolutely," he said. "How you know isn't any of my business anyway. I just need to know what you know."

Misty sighed and straightened up as if to brace herself. "Alright," she said. "I've known about Team Rocket for a while and you have to believe me when I say that they are rotten to the core. They're responsible for a lot of bad things and the world would be a much better place without them. They have people who patrol the wilds and the roads and will kill travelers without any hesitation to get at their money and take their Pokémon for themselves.

"Team Rocket is evil," she emphasized each word. "And I'm positive that if nobody stops them then something terrible will happen. I don't know what, and I don't know when, but I'm sure they're planning something bad and whatever it is, it has to do with whatever is in Cerulean Cave."

Ash opened his mouth to speak, wanting to ask her why she hasn't gone to the police with that information, but it immediately occurred to him that she wouldn't talk to the police for the same reason she was being so elusive with him; it would drudge up details of her life that she obviously didn't want out in the open. _So why do you suddenly trust me?_ he wanted to ask, though that quickly became apparent also. _She must not have anyone else,_ he realized. _She's travelling with me for the same reason I'm traveling with her… neither of us really have anyone else._

"I've been trying," Misty went on, "for quite a while now to do whatever I could to just stay out of everyone's way, but I'm thinking that living like that isn't really an option anymore." She looked up and met Ash's gaze calmly now. "Ash, Team Rocket has to be taken care of. I can guarantee they're the ones causing the food shortages and this is only the beginning. They won't stop until someone actively puts an end to whatever they're planning…" she took a steadying breath. "What else do you want to know?"

Ash sat back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, right now all I really need to know is how we're going to stop Team Rocket when the police can't do anything and we can't go to the with what you know." This wasn't entirely true; Ash all but had to bite his tongue to question her on the source of her knowledge.

"That's the problem," said Misty. "If I knew what anyone could do to stop them I'd have done it already. But to the masses at large Team Rocket is just a group of community organizers and charity workers. We can't just go around trying to expose them…"

"Well from what officer Jennifer said," Ash mentioned, leaning forward again and resting his elbows on his knees, "it seems like they're pretty desperate to get into Cerulean Cave."

"Which is nuts," said Misty. "That place is like a pit of pure hell. Acid rivers, clouds of toxic fumes, and viciously wild Pokémon are some of the less dangerous features of the cave. No one even knows what's at the bottom, but if they're taking heavy equipment and guards in then you can bet they're trying to get to whatever _is_ at the bottom."

"Is there any other entrance to the cave?" asked Ash, wondering if Misty, again, knew more than she was letting on.

"Not to the cave per say," she answered. "But there is another route to the lower levels.

"Which would be…" Ash prompted.

Misty laughed a hollow laugh. "There's a reason Team Rocket is taking the route they are… the other entrance to the lower level is guarded by the Elite Four."

"Hold on," said Ash. "How did we go from talking about Team Rocket and Cerulean Cave to the Elite Four?"

"I'll get there in a minute," said Misty. "I'm just trying to explain everything as best I can."

Ash shifted back onto the bed and folded his arms again. "Sorry," he said. "There's just a lot to understand."

"I know," said Misty, "but you're the one who wanted to know." She didn't give him time to respond before she went on. "Connected to the lower chambers of Cerulean Cave there's a tunnel leading up to a massive funnel shaped complex of caves and passageways that are collectively called 'Malebolge.' These tunnels all converge into one big passage near ground level and then they form a cave that's located high up on a mountain to the west. Malebolge is home to some of the most ferocious and powerful Pokémon in the region, but despite that, Indigo Plateau, the biggest and most prosperous city in the known world, has sprung up just outside of the entrance to Malebolge.

"This is possible because of the Elite Four," Misty continued, adopting an almost lecturing tone. "The entrance to Malebolge is sealed off by a huge series of vaults and buildings that the Elite Four run and manage in an effort to keep Indigo Plateau, and the rest of the world for that matter, safe from the dangers of the caves."

"And with the most powerful trainers in the world right there," said Ash, catching on, "Indigo Plateau is safe enough that it can grow and thrive. That makes sense, so what we have to do is get to the Elite Four, tell them what Team Rocket is up to, and let them take care of it."

Misty shook her head. "I don't think it will be that simple," she said. "The Elite Four never leave their posts. It's routine for them to fight off monsters, but if something ever managed to get through them then the city would be destroyed. So naturally they take their jobs pretty seriously."

"Great," Ash muttered. "So I guess we'll have to go through Malebolge ourselves and get to whatever's at the bottom of Cerulean Cave before Team Rocket."

Misty cracked a grin but shook her head. "Even if that wasn't suicidal, there's another problem… The Elite Four don't let anyone go into Malebolge. It's just not done. They guard the entrance with their lives and live by the principle that nothing gets out and nothing gets in… We'd have to fight our way through them if we wanted in."

Ash flopped back on the bed and put his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. "I'm starting to see why nobody's tried this before." He paused and looked over at Misty. "So, what would you recommend we do?"

"Get passed the Elite Four," said Misty. "And if it were possible I'd like to see them attack Team Rocket."

"I thought we decided both of those were impossible," said Ash.

"We did," said Misty. "And that's why I'm at a bit of a loss. I can't think of any way to do anything useful."

Ash and Misty sank into a third long silence. Growlithe panted at the door, dutifully listening for any trouble, and Pikachu curled up on Ash's chest, comfortable enough to begin napping. Ash ran what he'd just learned over and over in his mind and scrutinized every detail for possible solutions. After the sun had dipped lower in the sky, signaling the onset of evening, Ash sat up and stretched, making Pikachu scamper down to his lap.

"I don't think there's any quick way to fix this," he said, getting Misty's attention. "But maybe there's a way that would work even if it would take a little longer."

"What are you thinking?" asked Misty.

"The other Gyms," said Ash. "Every major city has one to defend it from the surrounding wild Pokémon and marauding gangs. No two gyms are alike, but all of them answer to, or at least listen to, the Elite Four according to my grandpa. I was thinking that you and I would travel to each one and do whatever we could to earn the respect of the leader of each gym. We'd convince each leader to give us some kind of recommendation that we could show the Elite Four and impress them enough that they'd let us into Malebolge."

"Do you have any idea how hard that would be?" asked Misty. "Gym leaders are some of the toughest people around. It wouldn't be easy to convince them to give us their backing."

"I know," said Ash, "but I don't really see anything else we can do. Also, even if we can't earn recommendations from each leader, it would still be a great way to travel all over the region, collect data for the Pokedex, and train up our own Pokémon. And who's to say that during the trip we don't uncover some more information on Team Rocket and find ways to set their plans back? We can always be working on that no matter where we are."

"Team Rocket is everywhere," said Misty, thinking about what she'd heard earlier from Jennifer. The orange haired trainer laid back on the bed and looked around for a minute. "I think that's the best idea we've got," she said. "So the general plan is going to be to visit every major city's gym, complete the Pokedex on the way, and hurt Team Rocket however we can in the process of trying to get to the bottom of Cerulean Cave through the entrance at Indigo Plateau."

Ash nodded. "I like the sound of that," he said. "It's not going to be quick or easy, but if it work then there's no downside."

Misty smiled a little and got up. "Well now that we have a plan," she said. "I'm going to go get a shower in. We can work on the details as we go." She made for the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Ash sighed and laid back on the bed. Immediately Pikachu hopped onto his chest, curled into a yellow ball of coarse fur, and went to sleep. Ash grinned and petted the little Pokémon as Growlithe, stoic as ever, continued sitting by the door to keep watch.

* * *

AN: No real news here. I'm working steadily on turning out new chapters but school and never ending overtime keep the pace slow. I can only write so much sitting in the back of my biology class. Thanks much to all who review. Peace!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thanks to Claire for reminding me that it has indeed been a while since I updated. For the record, updates should be a little more regular after finals are over. Yeah, school is is a bitch. Anyway, hope you're all enjoying the story thus far. The darker Pokemon world is a fun one to write. Happy Turkey Day!

* * *

Chapter 5 – The Forest

Before Misty had even finished her shower Ash had fallen asleep. The small towel provided by the Center was barely large enough to dry her, and not at all big enough to cover her properly and so, realizing that she'd only brought her soiled clothes into the bathroom with her Misty threw the towel around her waist and strolled absentmindedly into the main room, more or less exposed to the world. She'd gotten as far as the pack she'd left by her bed before it occurred to her that Ash was still in the room and that both of his Pokémon were staring at her with curious gazes.

Misty yelped in surprise, the euphoria from the hot shower disappearing in an instant, and grabbed her backpack. She reflexively jerked it up in front of her chest, making a terrible ruckus in the process and loosening the knot that held the towel around her hips. As Ash stirred and reached up to rub the side of his face the white cotton cloth slipped and dropped to the ground at Misty's feet at approximately the same time that she realized how noisily she'd try to conceal herself.

For a brief second though, Misty failed to notice that her towel had slipped. She had just had time to process that Ash had, at some point during her shower, stripped of his shirt and lay on the bed with his hands behind his head. _Wow,_ thought the girl for a second. _He's got to be older than sixteen…_ she told herself, ruminating for a moment not so much on the idea that she was ogling a man younger than herself, but more on the fact that Ash looked as though he were carved out of wood.

Growlithe sneezed once, tossing his head and shattering Misty's thought process. The redheaded trainer shook once and instantly remembered that she standing in the room all but naked… Mortified and now blushing furiously, Misty simply clutched at the backpack and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her with a loud crack that put Growlithe immediately on full alert. Ash rolled over onto his side, faced the wall, and mumbled in his sleep. Pikachu and Growlithe exchanged glances of mutual confusion before turning to stare at the door.

Slouching against the wall, Misty tossed her backpack between the toilet and the sink and took several deep breaths. She straightened up a moment later and put her ear close to the door. She heard only the panting of the canine by the door and sighed in relief. "What was I thinking?" she mumbled, shaking her head and blushing again. Breathless, she put her hand to her chest and turned to the shower again. "Right," she mumbled, reaching for the handle and turning it to 'cold.'

Ash slept deeply and peacefully for the next half an hour, a fact for which Misty was exceedingly grateful, unsure she'd be able to look at him anytime soon without blushing. To get herself out of the room, the girl decided that it was time someone did the laundry and the Center had a facility in the basement for doing just that. To that end Misty gathered up all of her clothes, minus the set she wore, which by coincidence was also her last clean set, and threw them in a plastic bag the Center had left by the door.

Glancing around and seeing that Ash still wore the same pants she'd seen him in when they left Pallet Town, Misty assumed that the rest of his clothes were clean and that the young trainer, much like herself, was no stranger to sleeping in less than ideal conditions. She left the room after picking up his shirt just in time to glance out the hallway window and catch the last glimpse of the sun disappearing behind the horizon.

The rest of the night passed without incident. Misty finished her laundry and got back to the room at nine pm, after a short detour to the cafeteria for a 'cheap' dinner. She had considered dipping into her field rations to conserve cash, but decided against that option. It may be expensive, she told herself, but even so… we can't eat money if we're caught in the wild with no food.

By the time she got back to the room, Ash had woken up and was taking his shower. The orange haired trainer made sure to knock on the closed bathroom door and call in that she was back so Ash would know not to walk out naked. No call came in for Fearow before eleven and, after an exceptionally Spartan dinner and some small talk, both trainers decided to turn in so they could sleep in a little the next morning.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Misty asked as she and Ash crawled into their beds.

"Go for it," said Ash, listening in the dark to Growlithe sleeping lightly by the side of his bed and scratching Pikachu behind the ears. The little yellow rodent had curled up by Ash's head, between the side of his face and his shoulder. "I think we're passed the point of needing to ask to ask questions," he said.

Misty shrugged even though she knew Ash wouldn't see the gesture. "You haven't mentioned to anyone that Pallet Town has been destroyed," said the girl.

"There's not much anyone could do about it even if I did say something," said Ash. "It's not like the news won't be all over it by tomorrow or the next day anyway… by not bringing it up to anyone we avoid a lot of unnecessary attention" _and pity_.

"That sounds reasonable," said Misty. "Goodnight then."

"Night," Ash muttered, closing his eyes and trying to relax.

Misty waited for several minutes, until she was sure Ash was asleep, then rolled to the edge of her bed and, as quietly as she could, reached down to her pack and opened a small concealed flap. Reaching inside she dug around for a minute and pulled out a plushy Squirtle doll. Grinning to herself she tucked herself under the covers and snuggled with the little doll, gradually slipping off to sleep.

SC

The sunrise the next morning was a brilliant one. Crystal clear and cloudless skies gradually lit up as the minutes passed and the first sliver of the sun on the horizon slowly lit up Ash and Misty's rented room. The thin curtains over the windows were there, Ash guessed as he slowly woke up, not so much to block out the sunlight, but more to scatter it evenly throughout the room.

By seven, almost a quarter of the sun was over the horizon and, feeling refreshed and fully awake, Ash got up, got dressed in his clean clothes and tactical armor, and walked to the windows. Instantly Pikachu was awake and alert and sitting up on the bed, keeping an eye on its trainer. Growlithe opened one eye as Ash opened the curtains enough to get a clear look outside, but remained still and relaxed.

Sometime during the early morning, Ash gathered when he turned towards the door and saw a folded piece of paper lying on the carpet, someone must have come by and slipped a note into the room. How they did so without waking the Pokémon was a question he pushed to the back of his mind. Misty stirred under the covers and poked her head out as Ash broke the sticker holding the note closed.

"Wassat?" Misty mumbled.

Ash quickly scanned through the note and then refolded it. "It's from the nurses who were in charge of Fearow," he said. A wide grin broke across Ash's face as he slipped the paper into his back pocket. "The treatments went off without any problems. Fearow will need to take it easy for a little while but the note says she's going to be fine."

"Fearow is a she?" Misty asked, waking up enough to sit up and stretch.

"I know," Ash chuckled. "She didn't seem very feminine to me the other day."

The two trainers collected their things and packed up what they had not prepared the night before. While Misty was preoccupied putting away something that Ash perceived she did not want him to see, Ash took the opportunity to count through the remaining money he'd received from Jesse and James. _Wow,_ he griped. _Still this much to get rid of? _And he couldn't exactly just spend it all in front of Misty or she'd doubtlessly become curious.

It would only be much later that he'd reflect on the irony of wishing he didn't have money.

With everything ready to go, Ash and Misty went down to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast, then picked up Fearow and left the Pokémon Center behind. They stopped at the same militia surplus store they had visited the previous day and bought a few 'luxury' items for the road such as toilet paper and some wood-alcohol at Misty's suggestion. She said the latter made good sterilizing solution when nothing else was available.

They left the city through Viridian's northern gate at nine, trekking down the rugged but well maintained footpath encircling Viridian for a quarter of a mile before turning onto the broader, gravel topped, way of Route 2. They saw a few other people on the road as they walked, and the ground underfoot gradually faded from crushed stone to dirt as they left the town behind, but by far and large, Ash and Misty met no one else who was _leaving _the city.

After they'd been traveling for an hour, the trainers saw no one else traveling the road at all, and Route 2 had narrowed from a wide road to something of a rural path cutting through tall grass. Along the way Ash stopped once or twice when Growlithe, who had taken to heading up the group, paused to sniff the air or whirl on a rustling in the grass just off the path.

"He's really turned into quite the little protector," Misty whispered to Ash when Growlithe stopped and bounded off to the edge of the road, barking furiously at something neither trainer saw.

Ash nodded when he heard the rattling hiss of a terrified Rattata and saw the purple rodent's tail twitching madly as the Pokémon turned and fled into the grass. Growlithe barked once more, especially loudly for good measure, then turned back around and trotted back to Ash, sitting in front of him and staring up at the trainer with a 'didn't-I-do-so-good' sort of look.

Ash knelt and scratched Growlithe's ears, making a point to compliment him and point out that he did a good job of chasing off the Rattata. "I get the feeling that this little guy is a lot stronger than I thought when I met him," said Ash as Growlithe drank in the praise. "Even without a pack he's assertive, confident, and playful. How old do you think he is?" Ash asked, turning to Misty.

Misty cocked her head off to one side and shrugged after giving the Pokémon a quick looking over. "Fire-types really aren't my specialty," she said. "Maybe two or three?" she guessed.

"That was about what I was thinking," said Ash. "You know," he grinned and had to make himself resist a laugh. "Most healthy and well-trained Growlithe will evolve sometime when they're between three and five years old."

Misty sighed. "That would be pretty amazing," she said. "Arcanine are fierce Pokémon from what I understand…" Now it was her turn to grin. "I hear they can be a little too fierce for some trainers. You sure you can handle one?"

"Of course," said Ash, standing up quickly. "I mean- If I've trained Growlithe right he should be exactly the same Pokémon he is now when he evolves."

"Well, it's too bad we don't have an Arcanine right now," said Misty.

"Why's that?" asked Ash, petting Pikachu to keep his companion from feeling neglected.

Misty cleared her throat and pointed to the north. "Because we're about to head into Viridian Forest," she said. "And as little as I know about fire-types, even I wish we had a few strong ones going in there with us."

Ash followed her gesture and found himself caught a little off guard. He'd been paying attention to Misty and to the trail directly ahead of their group, largely ignoring anything farther out than a good stone's throw. As such, the silhouette of the forest rising up from the sea of gold had snuck up on him. Viridian Forest loomed less than a kilometer away.

"Wow," Ash muttered. "It's darker from a distance than I remembered."

"It's probably not any safer than you remember either," said Misty. "We don't exactly have Professor Oak with us."

"Well," said Ash, reaching behind his back and detaching a pokeball from his belt. "I guess this is as good a time as any then."

"What are you going to do?" asked Misty.

"Would you mind sending out Blastoise," Ash said with a grin as he tossed the pokeball into the air. "He'd be good for dramatic effect."

Misty nodded and quickly released Blastoise from its pokeball at the same time that Ash's burst open and bathed the ground beneath it in a hot white light. With a squawking caw, Fearow materialized from the light and stretched its wings out wide, revealing a startling wingspan of a full twenty-five feet.

Completely oblivious to the forms around it, Fearow stretched again with eyes held shut, first pushing its right wing and right leg out as far as the limbs would go, then shifting its weight and stretching its opposite side. When the bird did open its eyes it jerked in surprise and jumped backwards, instantly locking its eyes on Ash, then glancing warily at the glowing yellow rodent atop the trainer's head.

"Pikachu," Ash said, nothing but confidence in his voice as he stood at ease. "If she tries to fly off, feel free to subdue her."

Pikachu chittered in acknowledgement. He hadn't caught the exact meaning of Ash's order, but as most Pokémon could, he got the gist of it. Obviously Fearow understood the basic concept of the situation also. By now the bird saw that it was completely surrounded by Ash and Pikachu, Growlithe, and Blastoise and Misty. It refused to relax, but it did fold its wings, unwilling to start a fight it was certain to lose.

"Well you're smart enough to understand that we're not here to fight," said Ash, as much to himself as Fearow, wondering how best to display dominance over a bird, especially one so large as Fearow. "Now you just need to understand that I'm in charge from here on in." He took a step closer, but stopped as Fearow snapped her drill-like beak shut and hissed once at him through tightened nares.

"It's a female," said Misty, quietly getting Ash's attention. "A lot of male flying-types will show superiority to a flock of females or younger males by plucking out a few feathers on the subordinate's neck. I know that's how some trainers show that they're in charge."

Ash swallowed once, meeting Fearow's narrowed glare, then shuffled any display of anxiety to the back of his mind. "Pikachu," he muttered. "Be very, _very_, ready." _This Pokémon could-_ he cut the thought short and stepped forward without pause and reached out before Fearow could react. Grabbing quickly and pulling with a swift tug he plucked two feathers from the side of Fearow's neck as if he were reaching out to shake the hand of a good friend.

Fearow squawked once in utter surprise and took a clumsy step backwards. It turned its head as if it were going to thrust its beak forward, but a bright warning spark from Pikachu's cheeks checked the large bird. Instead Fearow sat still and watched carefully as Ash stepped forward. The large bird twitched as the trainer reached out again and touched its neck. This time however Ash stroked the now thinned patch of feathers from which he'd plucked his trophies. The gesture by no means put Fearow at ease, but Fearow refrained from striking out.

Misty watched, shock plain on her face as Ash focused all his attention on the Pokémon. The red headed trainer's hands were balled into pallid, icy, fists, and her voice perched on the edge of barking for Blastoise to attack. _The Pokémon should have pecked Ash's eyes out,_ Misty fretted, sweat breaking out on her palms and on her forehead. _What was I thinking mentioning that he could pluck a feather… even experienced bird trainers hesitate to do that._

All Misty could do was watch as Fearow, still tense but more watchful than frightened (or, she noted, furious,) let Ash stroke the side of its neck. _This is not natural,_ she thought. _Taming Growlithe so quickly was one thing. But Growlithe was wounded, alone, and weaker than this Fearow. Growlithe had time to grow close to Ash while it was hurt in the wild._ Her eyes shifted to Ash who was now grinning and openly scratching through the bird's feathers with both his hands. _How does he do this?_

"Alright," said Ash, stepping back and crossing his arms. He pointed off towards the forest and turned to Misty. "I remember bugs being the biggest treat to travelers in Viridian Forest," he said. "And now we have the perfect counter for them." He gestured to Fearow.

_Fearow can gorge itself on all of the Weedle and Caterpie it likes,_ thought Ash with a satisfied smile, _which should be easy pickings for the big bad bird. And while Fearow is busy keeping the rest of us safe from the nastiness in there it will think that I'm treating it to an all you can eat buffet._

"We're going to be hoofing it from here on in," said Ash. "You," he patted Fearow's side, "feel free to eat whatever comes within twenty feet of us."

Neither Misty nor Ash could tell whether or not Fearow understood what role it was to play, but the big Pokémon shook itself once and ruffled out its feathers. With a flick of her wrist Misty returned Blastoise to its pokeball, an action well-noted by Fearow, and snapped the ball to its magnetic clip on her belt.

"I'm not going to be able to do too much in there," said the girl. "My Pokémon can't stand up to a whole lot of poison so this is going to be mostly on you Ash." She made every effort to keep her voice steady but Ash still caught the uncomfortable edge in her tone.

"Don't worry about it," he said, walking forward to get the group moving again. He gestured and Growlithe again took point while Pikachu pivoted on its trainers head to keep a close eye on Fearow who walked beside Ash. The feathered Pokémon strutted at the awkward human pace in dipping strides, bobbing its head as it went along. "We've got a crack team lined up to handle anything."

Misty wrapped her arms around herself as they walked, the forest approaching all too quickly for her tastes. "You do realize it could take a week or more to hack our way through this place?"

Ash nodded. "My grandpa and I got through in five days so I figured we'd probably be a week." He shook off the chill that ran down his back as the party neared the edge of the forest and stopped. Just before them, plains began to give way to tangled brush and brambles. Fifty meters ahead of them the inexplicably contiguous forest stood like the wall of a dark trees and thorny bushes.

The road at the party's feet continued on in a straight line between two especially large, tower-like, trees where someone or something had slashed a rough tunnel through the forest. The edges of that tunnel were jagged, Ash could see even from this distance, as the forest had begun to take back the path. The trainer swallowed hard now. It was a considerably more narrow way than he remembered.

_Maybe we should just burn the whole thing down,_ he thought, bordering on a cold sweat but continuing forward as though nothing were bothering him. Approaching the actual break in the trees that allowed for the path set him a little more at ease though. The path was still apt to inflame claustrophobia, but he could see that once someone passed beyond the initial wall of trees, the forest opened up in much the same way that a clustered city would, with thick patches of trees forming blocks around which little paths and alleys broke off.

Ash, flanked by Fearow and Growlithe was the first to pass under the battlements of the forest, instantly finding himself shadowed by the thick canopy of the trees. "See?" he said, as much to himself as to the trainer behind him and the Pokémon beside him. "This isn't so bad. We're already inside and nothing has-"

"YAAAaaaa!" Misty shrieked as her skin lost all of its color in a flash. The girl jumped behind Ash and kicked her leg furiously. "Get it off get it off get it off!" she yelled pointing to the green thing that had suddenly wrapped itself around her leg.

Ash barely had time to look behind him and see that a Caterpie had crawled out from the shade of the bushes and attached itself to Misty's comparatively warm leg before Growlithe barked out a battle cry and leapt into action. The canine turned its head and snapped its jaws shut around the bug, bursting it in a splash of green as Growlithe wrenched back and shook his head like an attacking crocodile to ensure total evisceration.

Able only to watch in shock, Misty looked down as the last, unrecognizable, fragments of the insect fell away from the dog's verdantly stained teeth and maws. She felt her stomach fall into her feet as she saw the slimy green insides of the bug spattered on her leg, clinging to her shoe, and hanging from her thigh. Her cheek twitched and her hollow eyes mirrored the shell-shocked smile plastered across her face.

"Good boy," said Ash, kneeling down and petting Growlithe and scratching him behind the ears. He went on to further compliment Growlithe, as well as to praise both Pikachu and Fearow for being so vigilant, as Misty, standing in exactly the same place, clinging to the empty space Ash had occupied more than a minute ago, still stared down at the goop on her leg.

SC

"So," Ash began, scraping the bottom of a can of beans with his spoon, "why exactly don't you wear all of the armor my grandfather gave us?" He glanced at Misty across the tiny campfire they'd built an hour earlier. As late evening drew in all around them the little flames had died down to barely more than glowing coals, but there was still enough light for him to see that Misty wore only half of the protective outfit, and left her legs almost completely exposed.

Misty finished the last bite of a protein bar and put the trash in a paper sack, then shrugged and handed the sack to Ash. "Girl's got to have prerogative," she said as Ash put his trash in the sack and tied off the top. "I'm just more comfortable this way."

Ash nodded, deciding that when a girl said something was her 'prerogative' it would be silly to try and convince her otherwise. "Makes sense to me," he conceded, effectively closing the conversation and turning away from the fire. "I'll take care of this." He disappeared into the woods for a moment, after Pikachu hopped up onto his shoulder of course, and came back without the sack. Ash instructed Growlithe to take the first watch and returned Fearow to her pokeball at Misty's behest to prevent the Pokémon from trying to get away. Ash however saw this as an unnecessary precaution.

They smothered the fire with dirt and then scattered the ashes before turning in for the night.

Growlithe sat vigilantly a few paces from Ash while Pikachu slept on his trainer's chest. When the orange canine felt fatigue beginning to eat at his concentration, the Pokémon got up and began pacing out a perimeter around the tiny camp, moving as silently as he could and never straying more than a single bound away from Ash and Misty. At just passed two, Growlithe woke Pikachu, being sure not to rouse either human in the process, and the Pokémon traded shifts.

The rest of the night and the next day passed without any notable trouble. Ash and Misty both woke at the same time before dawn and quickly packed up their bedrolls. Ash again took point when they continued north into the forest, flanked by Growlithe and Fearow. Pikachu, as always, sat on Ash's head and continually scanned the forest for threats. More than once Fearow would stray a few meters from the group and plunge her beak into the brush to snatch up an unsuspecting Caterpie. Growlithe likewise, Ash noted, seemed to be going out of his way to capture insects on which the canine would quickly feast before continuing.

After a short and scanty lunch around noon Pikachu spotted yet another Caterpie and blasted it with an especially impotent bolt of electricity. The shock was still enough to paralyze the insect and Ash went on to capture it with one of his empty pokeballs.

"It's too bad the Pokedex isn't active," said Ash, holding the newly captured Pokémon's container up to the little computer. All the screen would display was an 'inability to connect to the network.' "I'm a little anxious to start cataloging things."

Misty patted him on the shoulder and said they'd get their chance. "We'll still have all of our Pokémon once this Bill guy gets the Pokedex online… and it's not like we've run into any other trainers with Pokémon to cata-"

Misty stopped short as a quiet 'plip' sounded and Ash, still looking down at the little screen flinched and held the Pokedex out at arm's length. "What is it?" she asked, even as her eyes fell on splatter of liquid on the screen.

Ash's eyes traced upwards and his head slowly lifted as he looked up. Another drop of liquid fell on his cheek with a 'plip,' and the trainer twitched and wiped at his face, smearing red across his cheek. "What the hell?" he muttered, looking at the back of his hand.

Misty looked up and fell silent as Ah used his sleeve to wipe the red liquid off his face. "Hey Misty," he said, turning to face her and showing his hand to her. "What do you… make…" he looked up as Misty pointed upwards and also fell silent.

Hanging suspended above them from an especially sturdy branch, some fifty feet in the air, was what appeared to be a white pod made of silk. It was much too large to be that of a Caterpie or even of a Weedle, and the bottom of the pod was stained the color of blood.

"What do you suppose that is?" asked Ash.

"We should definitely get moving," Misty replied as both trainers' eyes lighted on the butterfly net protruding from the side of the pod. "We're not halfway through the forest, and we've already found a dead body…"

"Bodies," said Ash. He'd turned off to the right and spotted a similar pod clinging to the side of a tree ten meters ahead of them. The bottom of this one was also ruby in color and dripped a dark liquid, not all blood from the looks of it, down the side of the tree. Strewn on the ground beneath the pod were pokeballs, a backpack, and a broken butterfly net. "C'mon," said Ash. He moved to take Misty by the hand but the girl moved of her own accord and followed Ash in the direction of the second pod. It was on their route.

Pikachu was on alert and Growlithe was sniffing the air with every breath as the party arrived beneath the tree. Misty stood in front of the tree, the pod was just above eye level, and examined the ghastly scene while breathing through her shirt. Ash scanned through the debris and then stood up.

"All of the pokeballs are broken," said Ash. "They're useless and the backpack is empty."

"The body is beginning to decompose inside of the cocoon," Misty answered. "Whatever did this must have moved on before we got here."

Ash gave the cocoon a onceover and then stepped back. The close, stale, air of the silent forest combined with lingering smell of death made his eyes water. "You think Weedle did this to him?"

Misty nodded. "Their poison from a Weedle causes the victim's body to rot even before they die… so I can see it doing this." She and Ash both turned away from the scene and began walking without another word, closely together this time.

From then on the trainers and their Pokémon moved quickly but with as much caution as their pace allowed. Fearow was returned to her pokeball, mostly because the bird was making too much of a ruckus trying to pick her way through the brush. Growlithe was like a ghost beside Ash, moving without a sound that the humans could hear aside from his near constant attempts to pick up on any threatening scent. For a while Ash wondered how the Pokémon had missed the smell of decomposition, but later decided that it must have been that, as he had only recently noticed, there was absolutely no wind within the forest to stir the air.

The party ignored for the rest of the day the Caterpie that would occasionally peak out at them from the brush. The entire forest seemed to hold its breath and, to Ash at least, the sound of even the trainers' quietest attempts to navigate the undergrowth was noisy and clumsy. Along the way the trainers found four more pods, each presumably containers for the dead, suspended in the trees. Ash and Misty stopped that night and prepared for bed in utter silence. Neither said a word to each other or to their Pokémon, nor did they build a campfire. They ate a cold dinner and went to sleep once Growlithe had taken watch.

The night brought with it no sounds. Any insects moving in the forest did so silently. No owls hooted, no dogs called, and no wings stirred the quiet. Ash found himself longing for a sound, any sound at all as he lay on his side, trying to tune out the deafening quiet. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead when he realized that he couldn't hear Growlithe. Making every effort to be rational however he told himself that the canine was not moving but still keeping watch.

Or had the bugs gotten to Growlithe and killed him silently? Were they now encroaching on his own bed and readying to sting?

_No,_ Ash told himself, shaking his head once to clear out the thoughts. _Growlithe is fine. He's just as tense as the rest of us and being quiet._

Then again poison can kill quickly and silently.

Ash jerked and lurched up from his bedroll, slapping at his feet having sensed what he thought to be a crawling on the ground beneath him. The snap of his palm hitting the fabric rang like a firecracker and instantly Misty bolted up as did Growlithe and Pikachu. From nowhere Misty had drawn a hatchet with one hand and held a pokeball in the other. Pikachu's crackling cheeks provided enough illumination for Ash to see the sweat on Misty's face and detect the quick rises and falls in her chest. She must not have been sleeping well either.

"What is it?" Misty hissed.

Ash shook his head again. "Nothing," he said. The sickening sensation of movement beneath his bedroll had ceased. "Sorry," he went on in a low tone. "It was just a dream."

Misty sighed in relief, withering just a little in the process. Pikachu relaxed, his spiky yellow fur lay back down on his body and he curled into Ash, more feline than rodent. "Alright," said the redheaded trainer. "This forest is really getting to me…"

"Me too," said Ash, laying back down and hearing that Misty did the same.

Neither once spoke again for the rest of the night, and again Ash found it impossible to sleep. His imagination ran wild in the silence and drove him he thought to the brink of insanity. Riotous images of poisonous monsters paraded through his mind no matter how tightly he clenched his eyes or how tightly he curled up in the bedroll.

Waking the next morning, Ash realized he had no memory of even beginning to drift off to sleep. Given that he was still exhausted in the predawn minutes he guessed that he must have passed out, not fallen asleep. He and Misty got up and packed up their camp in silence. As sunlight began to filter in through the treetops both trainers saw deep purple bags under the other's eyes and both understood.

"Grandpa told me this forest did things to people," muttered Ash over lunch, back against a tree. He still listened into the deathly silence of the windless forest. So deep into Viridian were they now that even at midday the forest seemed in the coils of dusk. Whereas before sunlight and even peeks at the sky could be glimpsed through breaks in the overhead canopy, now the foliage was so thick that only diffuse light the color of ashes fell to the forest floor.

"It takes something special to get through," said Misty, finishing off a small bit of canned meat. She threw the garbage into the trees, heedless of it, and stood up as Ash finished his lunch. Again they pressed forward and hours began to crawl by. At five in the afternoon, Viridian Forest was again as dark and as silent as a crypt and now it began to grow cold. Ash could feel it all beginning to add weight to his limbs, the fatigue, the sleeplessness of the previous night, and now the cold front sweeping through the forest.

_This must be what it feels like to lose your mind,_ he thought when he and Misty decided to stop for the night a few hours later.

Now, it was genuinely cold and the ground was hard dirt. _A few more nights of this_, thought the trainer,_ and working on the Pokedex will be the last thing to worry about._ Ash, beginning to shiver and feel the cold prickling on his face, tried to force the thoughts from his mind, to tell himself that tomorrow would be the midpoint of the journey and… and… and that would mean that tomorrow, the day after another cold and sleepless night, would be the hardest day's journey. _Fuck…_

Ash heard a rustle from his left and rolled over, straining his eyes on the dark. Even in the near blackness he could make out Misty's bedroll and he looked just in time to catch the end of a shiver and hear the tail end of a curse about the cold conditions. _This is a miserable place…_ Ash thought, unable to sleep as another three hours rolled by and the night grew even more inhospitable. _At least this should keep the bugs away…_

Ash rolled over again, suddenly aware that he didn't feel Pikachu curled up beside him. A panic almost had time to set in before he spotted both Pikachu and Growlithe asleep together just out of reach behind him. Apparently both thought it was too cold to try and keep watch. Ash grinned just a little and looked back over at Misty. Now, his eyes having adjusted a little more to the darkness, he could see that she was shivering and his heart sank.

"Screw it," he muttered, standing up on a whim and walking without a second thought over to Misty. _I don't care if it's awkward or if she gets the wrong idea…_

The girl stirred only when Ash set his bedroll down directly behind her and crawled into his roll. "It's too cold to worry about a little modesty," he mumbled, catching sight of his breath now and wondering for a second how it was possible that the forest could be this chilled. The trainers scooted a little closer together and almost immediately Ash felt a little warmer.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Misty said quietly. She curled up more and couldn't suppress a little grin when she felt Ash lean into her some.

"It seems to be working for the Pokémon," said Ash, trying to make a quick joke. All he heard from misty was a quiet hum to acknowledge the statement and then her breathing leveled off. Ash couldn't help noting that she hadn't told him not to get any ideas. He closed his eyes and fell almost immediately asleep.

The next morning Ash awoke well before it was light to the discovery that during the night Misty had turned around to face him and buried her face in his chest to better stave off the cold. Ash in turn had pressed his face into her hair. Rough as both trainers were from the trail, Ash felt refreshed… not good by any stretch as the forest was still exacting a grueling toll, but he felt now that he could go on. The thought of hiking the remaining miles today through the darkest part of the forest no longer made him feel ill inside. He grinned but quickly pulled away and got up as he felt Misty stir.

"Good morning," said the redhead, stretching as Ash packed up his bedroll. "What time is it?"

Ash checked his watch, having to hit the button to light up the face. He flinched when he read the numbers. "It's… ten in the morning," he looked up at the sky. "Wow…" It still looked like the darker side of twilight. Ash could even see a remarkably thin layer of frost just beginning to form on rocks in the darkest parts shadows cast by some of the trees. "This sucks."

"Let's focus on just getting through it," said Misty with a smile as Growlithe and Pikachu woke up.

Ash smiled back and nodded, secretly trying to read Misty's face, then moved to help her pack up her bedroll. The color in her features grew more pronounced, he noticed, as he neared and packed away the bedroll.

Of one thing Ash had been absolutely right; the cold did indeed keep the bugs at bay. When they stopped for a late lunch at just after three, the party had not seen a single Caterpie, or any other Pokémon for that matter, despite the cold snap of the previous night having abated some. Ash could no longer see his breath, but the constant and oppressive darkness of the forest was still wearing on his nerves.

"I can't wait to be out of here," said Ash as the party walked on, what little light there was beginning to fade already. "I only wish I could remember the route I took through here with grandpa. I don't remember it being half this bad-" Ash stammered and fell forward as his foot struck something hard hidden in the newly reappearing undergrowth. The tumble pitched Pikachu from Ash's head and sent the little Pokémon skittering into the dark.

"Ash!" Misty called, only having caught that Ash suddenly vanished into the dark grass in front of her.

"I'm fine," said Ash, getting up to his knees and turning around. "Just tripped over a rock or something." Ash knelt down and rummaged through the grass as Pikachu leapt back on top the trainer's hat and Growlithe, tailed by Misty, quickly flanked Ash. "Um," Ash mumbled, pausing and staring at the patch of grass he had cleared.

Misty looked down into the grass and quickly spotted among the gloomy shapes a human body, wrapped in a dark, full length, coat and wearing a tattered backpack that barely hung from his shoulders on shredded straps. "Oh my god," Misty breathed, kneeling down beside Ash. "This is a Ranger from Indigo Plateau…"

Ash nodded, having also noticed the insignia of the Elite Four, a coat of arms consisting of four golden swords against a black field, stitched into the Ranger's sleeve. "I knew the Elite Four sent patrols into the forest to keep it safe for the travelers, but I never thought I'd see one."

"Much less a dead one," amended Misty. "Rangers have to be some of the most hardened survivalists in the region and whatever killed this one might still be around. We should go right now."

Ash agreed and, after quickly searching the body for anything useful got up and slipped the ranger's thick wallet into his backpack. He released Fearow from her pokeball and together the party began to navigate the forest again, continuing ever North. They went on unhindered and making what both trainers thought to be amazing time for the next several hours until light had again faded almost completely from the dark stretches of the forest.

Not wishing to remain any longer than was absolutely necessary, Ash and Misty agreed that they would continue on through the night in hopes of reaching the more hospitable northern reaches of the forest before noon the next day. From there they both calculated that if their pace were steady enough they could make it out of Viridian Forest by nightfall of the next day.

By the time the outside world was experiencing sunset, Ash and Misty had covered nearly more ground that day than they had the past two days combined, due in part to the terrain having opened up some and slanted to run steadily downhill. Ash lead the group, flanked by Growlithe and Fearow while Pikachu sat dutifully atop his head and kept watch. Misty had even begun to brighten, despite the encroaching darkness, openly talking and joking, albeit quietly, with Ash.

"Hey," said Ash as Growlithe stopped in his tracks. "What is it?"

The orange canine froze, only moving to sniff the still and stale air. As Growlithe stood quiet for the next several moments the party fell into a deep silence. Fearow and Pikachu cast about uncomfortably, while Ash and Misty both waited for the Pokémons' highly tuned senses to detect a clear path. It was only after the ringing quiet in his ears had abated that Ash focused enough on his surroundings to notice that the party had entered a large open area. He couldn't call it a clearing, for the trees ringing the plot were so enormous that their canopies still blotted out the sky, but Ash could see that he and Misty had wandered perhaps a third of the way into an open space maybe sixty yards in diameter.

_It's nice to not have walls closing us in all around,_ thought Ash, taking a deep breath. _It's even nicer that the air has finally warmed up some._

"Hey," whispered Misty, apparently having made the same observations of the surrounding terrain as Ash. She pointed up after giving Ash's sleeve a quick tug. "What do you make of that?"

Ash followed her gesture and saw what looked to be hemispheres and crescents of almost luminescent white hanging in empty space far above them. There must have been dozens of them suspended in the air like tiny, dim, moons. Also, here and there he could, after a moment of focusing his vision, detect thin, almost invisible lines of pale white hanging in the same manner as the hemispheres and crescents. A draping line would appear from nowhere and run a course through the air before disappearing into nothing again. The effect made Ash flinch as his mind tried to process exactly what it his eyes were seeing.

"Oh my god," he muttered, utter horror driving cold claws into his chest as realization smashed into him. He grabbed Misty's hand and began pulling her backwards, almost tugging her off balance. "We need to get out of here," he hissed, cutting her off before she could protest. Growlithe and Fearow had apparently reached the same conclusion as they were both backing up, not turning their backs to the center of the clearing.

"Why?" Misty said, a sinking feeling gnawing at her, the thought of again being ringed in by the trees making her almost ill. "What's so-" she didn't finish. "Oh…" She looked up again as a rustling both above the group and in the forest behind them drew her attention again to the white crescents and hemispheres seemingly floating in the air. "Silk pods," she muttered as she and Ash stopped only a few feet from the barricade of trees.

They were all dead bodies embalmed in silk, she realized. The draping lines overhead were strands of silk hanging in the invisible canopy and each object floating in the sky was a victim of the Weedles, into whose nest the party had just stumbled.

"God damn it," Ash spat under his breath, hearing clearly now the unmistakable slurping sounds of Weedle slithering down tree trunks and the scraping of them crawling through the brush, and knowing the bugs would have sensed the trainers even before they'd blundered into the clearing. "Just run!"

In an instant the two trainers, Ash's Pokémon both taking the lead, made a break for the far end of the clearing. Only seconds ago Ash could barely see a few feet in front of his face but now, as adrenaline began to course in him, his vision sharpened and the dark gloom all around leapt into stark relief. He had vastly underestimated the size of the clearing, seeing now that it was no less than eighty yards in diameter and not completely circular. It was more of a shallow ellipse through the center of which he lead the charge. The young trainer looked over his shoulder and now saw the bugs beginning to emerge from the edges of the clearing behind them and from the sides of the clearing all around them.

Though the gloom should have been impenetrable Ash looked forward as the party reached the halfway point of the clearing and skidded to a stop. Misty stopped beside him as did the Pokémon. The girl was pale and sweating, wordless panic beginning to chip away at her senses, but nonetheless she made out the bulges in the ground ahead as arm length worms, each spouting stingers the size of an index finger from their head, burrowed up through the turf and blocked their path. There were a number of shallow pools of water, Ash saw, dotting the clearing. Each was ringed with a slimy ooze of pale egg sacks, each one carrying dozens if not a hundred or more embryonic Weedle.

Ash whirled around, taking in as much of the scene all around as he could in a quick glance, looking for a way out. _Of course we'd wander into the biggest nest of deadly insects in the whole forest,_ he griped, seeing now that the bugs were emerging from the edges of the clearing, slithering out from the muddy bottoms of the pools, and tunneling up from the ground like maggots from a corpse. They were nearing quickly, coming to within a stone's throw of the party and showing no signs of stopping.

_Alright, alright,_ thought Ash, steeling himself against the fear that clawed at the edges of his mind. _We can fight through this,_ he looked to Misty beside him. She was casting about in fear but showed no signs of panicking. She'd hold together, he thought. _It doesn't take much to kill a Weedle and Pikachu has more than enough energy stored to-_

Ash cried out in shock as an impact in his shoulder nearly knocked him over. From out of thin air a Weedle had appeared and thrown itself at him burying its stinger in his shoulder, or at least in the hardened plate that protected his shoulder. The stinger sprayed a stinking purple goop into the dent in the armor, but the plastic and the tightly woven cloth beneath absorbed the attack, giving Ash the instant he needed to reach up and yank the huge bug away before it could curl around his neck.

Rearing up he held the Weedle above his head and threw it to the ground. He meant to stomp on it, but Growlithe was there in an instant and tearing the insect to slushy bits while at the same time Misty shrieked. Ash whirled around and saw that a Weedle had dropped onto her head. By some luck it had not stung her and Fearow had bolted back and thrust its beak into the bug atop Misty's head, skewering it and pulling it away before the large bird devoured the bug. "From where?" he asked. The Weedle crawling at them from all directions were not yet near enough to leap at them.

Not from nowhere, Ash realized looking up, above. His spirit seemed to drain out of his body. Ash thought the scene to look very much like what one would expect to observe in a rotting corpse, hundreds of maggots burrowing around in the rotting carrion, except that in this case the maggots were the Weedle and the corpse was the canopy of the forest. Innumerable bugs appeared from between previously impercievable branches and quite literately crawled out of the woodwork, and many of them were now throwing themselves down at the invading party.

Ash could only hold up his arms in defense as the insects came raining down. Pikachu, who had been previously storing his energy, began to unleash dozens of thin yellow bolts of electricity that slapped into the airborne Weedle. The shocks would barely have been enough to make a larger Pokémon's hair frizzle but to the Weedle the attacks proved more than lethal and the air soon filled with the crackles of flash-cooked bugs as they plummeted to the ground. Fearow and Growlithe drew in closer to the party, ringing Misty between Ash and themselves.

"Misty," Ash said curtly but calmly. "I know your water-types don't much like poison, but Pikachu is beginning to run low on energy."

"Right," said Misty. She took a deep breath and reached for a pokeball. Her hand slapped to her side with a loud squish as a ball of sticky white goop slammed into her flank and glued her hand in place. "Ash!" she shouted just before another, smaller, rocket of goop slammed into her face and covered her mouth and nose. Misty instantly dropped to the ground and began tugging at the mask of white webbing.

Spinning on his heel and nodding once, the cue for Pikachu to continue his fight from the ground, Ash saw Misty's plight and knelt beside her without a thought. She was tugging furiously at the smothering web, but it had wrapped completely around the lower half of her face and stuck tight no matter how she clawed at it.

"Oh god," Ash hissed, looking over his shoulder for a brief second as he felt something light across it. A thin line of string-like web had fallen across his shoulder. He reached up to wipe it away but as soon as his fingers contacted the string they stuck tight, glued to his shoulder. "Fuck me," he barked, ripping his hand away so quickly the string gave. His hand burned and he realized blood now dripped from his fingers where he'd torn cuts in his hand from ripping it off the string. He turned back to Misty, seeing the implication immediately.

_We're so fucked,_ he fretted, feeling more of the strings falling across his back. He saw from the corner of his eye that all of the Weedle had stopped advancing, forming a circle a few meters arcos around the party, from which they now spat out the sticky lines of string. Growlithe was already glued down in place and Fearow's right wing was tied to her side. Only Pikachu remained free as the Pokémon dodged around and avoided the attacks.

Even Ash knew he was now immobile. Many of the strings falling across his back had joined into single lines that pinned him in place but he ignored it, reaching around his side and pulling out the heavy knife he'd bought in Viridian. "Hold still," he barked, tugging at Misty's wrist to pull her hands away from her face and realizing that her hands were stuck to the web. The girl's eyes were rolling back and her skin was turning red. Ash took aim as fast as he could and ran the tip of the knife along where he imagined Misty's lips to be.

It would only be later that Ash could take the time to thank his luck; Carbide has absolutely no pores and the polished surface of the substance makes it nearly impossible for anything sticky to cling to it. A thin slit appeared in the web and Ash immediately heard Misty suck in a relieved breath, and then choke as she tried to recover all the lost air. _Thank god,_ was all he could manage to think even as the group continued to fall under the net of webbing.

"Haha, ha ha ha ha," the almost squealing laughter echoed in the clearing, accompanied by the sound of clumsy feet coming crashing through the trees.

Ash struggled against the glue that now held him firmly in place. He'd dropped to all fours and hovered over Misty enough that no more of the strings could fall across her face. He saw emerging from the shadows the shape of a child, or perhaps a very short man, who wove among the Weedle as if they were not even there.

"I gotcha, I gotcha," he said in a much more level tone, prompting Ash to think he was just a short man. "You almost got away from my precious bugs but I gotcha!" he said as the insects continued to entomb the party. "You two put up much more of a fight that all of the others," said the man, whom Ash could now see had short and scraggly black hair and the most ugly face the young trainer had ever seen. "But old bug-catcher Cade gotcha good!" he raised his butterfly net and pointed to all of the numerous pods in the sky. "You all will make a lovely addition to the stockpile and now I'll have more than enough to last all of us through the next three winters."

"Ash," Misty gasped, managing to pull some of the webbing away from her lips as the stuff dried and became a little more brittle. "What's going on?"

"We walked right into this lunatics trap," he said quietly as the bug catcher began laughing hysterically to himself. "He's either controlling the bugs or they don't know he's there," he went on in a whisper. "I think he's using something to mask his scent. The Weedle are leaving him completely alone."

"Ash," Misty said again, her voice breaking. "I don't think we can get out of this. As soon as all of this string hardens we're going to be trapped in a rock hard cocoon."

Cade the bug catcher skipped around the Weedle and knelt down by Ash and Misty, so close that both trainers nearly gagged on his rancid breath as he spoke. "You're a pretty one," he said, looking at Misty. "Maybe you and I could-"

Filling the air with the sound of snapping strings of glue, Ash wrenched forward as hard as he could, freeing most of his upper right side and stabbing the knife in his right hand into the bug catcher's thigh. As Cade howled in pain and fell backwards, Ash tried to leap at him but the hardening glue around his legs held him fast. Immediately all of the Weedle began focusing their attention on Ash, pinning him again in a second.

Cade rolled on the ground and swore at the top of his lungs, clutching at the knife that had stuck him like a pig, but lacking the courage to tug at the blade which Ash had buried clear up to the hilt. Blood ran like water from the wound, such that Ash could only guess he'd struck his opponent's femoral artery. "At least I killed you too," said Ash to himself, beginning to crumple under the weight of the pile of string on his back.

"Ash," said Misty, looking up at him now. "I've really enjoyed being with you," she said.

"This isn't over," said the trainer, using every bit of his strength and heaving himself up. He heard some of the drying strings snap, but the mountainous weight of them, and the continued efforts of the Weedle held him down. "Okay," he admitted, "maybe we are in trouble."

Cade finally jerked the knife out of his leg, but instantly regretted doing so. Blood spurted in a fountain from the wound and splashed some of the Weedle attacking the party. In a flash those bugs turned from Ash, Misty, and the Pokémon, and whirled on Cade. They slithered towards him as the bug catcher crawled on three limbs back towards the edges of the trees. He was overtaken in an instant though and could only scream as stinger after stinger plunged into him from every angle. Both Ash and Misty tried to blot out the gurgling screams as the Weedles' poison began to literately melt Cade from the inside out. Neither wanted to think of the mess he'd be in a matter of minutes.

"Didn't think it would be a bunch of bugs that got me," said Ash. "We'll have to-" He stopped short as a deafening bark, like that of a monstrous dog, tore through the forest. It was so close though that the sound shook Ash and made his ears ring. He heard a grinding tear and felt the tug as the cocoon's strings began to pull away from him as something broke out. Straining himself and rotating his head as far as he could he saw Growlithe rip out of the cocoon and bark, again the sound was infinitely too loud for the little Pokémon.

Watching in amazement, Ash saw the orange fur on Growlithe's back and flanks jut out like needles and begin to glow with an infernal red light. A second later Ash felt a wave of heat roll off the Pokémon's form as the fur burst into flames and Growlithe disappeared in a little pyre of bloody light. Growlithe shook his body around as though he were trying to dry himself and sent countless embers out in all directions. Anything they touched burst into flame and for a second Ash worried that instead of a slow death in a string tomb he'd be burned alive.

Fire raced across the cocoon so fast Ash could barely tell that it did, but it consumed all of the highly flammable string in an instant and left both Pokémon and trainers untouched. Pikachu appeared from underneath a pile of glue a few feet to Ash's left and Fearow broke out and screeched an attack before throwing herself in a frenzy at the Weedle.

Growlithe began barking and shaking wildly, flinging more and more and more fire out in all directions, spraying with white-hot sparks nearly the entire clearing. Weedle crumpled beneath the flames and those close to the canine actually caught fire and withered into blackened husks. Ash scooped up Pikachu and covered his face to protect himself from the sparks. Misty curled up next to Ash and both were forced to turn away. Fearow, protected by fire retardant feathers, was nearly berserk. Any insect that managed to escape Growlithe's fury found itself diced to bits by the blurring talons of the bird.

Then, the hellish scene ended as quickly as it had begun. There was not a single bug left within sight. Fearow calmed and returned to the party, and Growlithe had faded from the roaring inferno to a less spectacular, but still glowing, little dog. The canine walked calmly over to Ash, warming the air around by a full ten degrees as he did, and licked Ash's hand once, then began panting. Ash didn't know what to do except to reach out and pet the Pokémon's head. Growlithe barked once happily, then stared off into space for a second as fatigue washed over his eyes. As Misty broke the remaining web away from her face, the Pokémon rolled onto his side and passed out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Hearts of Stone

"Hey," said Ash, shaking Growlithe a little with one hand. "Hey," He repeated a louder when there was no response. "Wake up!" He grew worried. Growlithe was completely unresponsive. The Pokémon was breathing steadily, but otherwise unmoving, apparently comatose.

Holding Ash's unconscious Pikachu in her arms, Misty stepped up beside him. She grinned a little and then began gently rocking the sleeping Pikachu. "That little guy saved our lives," she said. "Don't worry," she went on when Ash didn't answer. "He's going to be better than fine in a few days.

Ash looked up at her, calmer now. "Sorry," he said after a brief pause, "just a little shaken up." He turned back and sat in the grass beside Growlithe as Misty sat down beside him, feeling that it was safe to at least take a short break. "He's evolving," said Ash, looking down at Growlithe, "isn't he." He already knew the answer.

Misty nodded. "He must've been older than we thought," she said. "Using attacks as advanced as he did," she went on, "he must've been on the verge of evolving anyway and that fight was just the boost he needed to kick start the process. Now in a week or so you'll have an Arcanine at your command." She grinned again.

Ash nodded and smiled, then returned Growlithe to his pokeball and attached it to his belt. "It's too bad he's going to be out for a week or more," said Ash, relaxing just a little and taking a very deep breath. "I'm going to miss the company."

"At least we'll be out of this damned forest by tomorrow," said Misty as Pikachu woke up and instantly leapt to full alert.

Both trainers laughed for a second as the suddenly battle-ready Pokémon looked around, confused by the lack of enemies. Ash reached out and took Pikachu, scratching him behind the ears which almost immediately calmed the little rodent. Everyone sat in silence for a moment as Fearow strutted about the clearing, bobbing her head as she walked and searched the bushes ringing the clearing for any remaining insects. Finding none she returned to the group and stood, beginning to preen her feathers as Ash and Misty just sat together in silence.

"We're alive," Ash laughed. He leaned back on the grass and stared up at the invisible canopy above, ignoring the cocoons and string. He grinned and sighed in relief. "I thought we were going to die here."

Misty's lips tugged up in a little smile as she faced him. "We should get out of here or we still might," she said.

"You can be such a buzz kill," said Ash, rolling his eyes and looking up at her in mock frustration. Even in the low light he could tell she took the joke lightheartedly. "But I can see your point," he said after a brief pause of just staring at each other, he blushed a little. "We should probably get moving."

Misty got up and gave Ash a hand to his feet. Ash returned Fearow to her pokeball, deciding that Pikachu, sitting atop his head, would be security enough for the trek ahead. Both trainers set off, continuing due north to avoid as much of the forest as possible, and walked in silence as several hours slipped by unnoticed. Shock, fatigue, and the suddenness of the calm in the forest all combined to nearly hypnotize Ash as he walked. He felt only a fraction of the weariness that should have made it impossible to go on and when Misty's fingers brushed the back of his hand, startling him, it was like he'd suddenly awoken from a dream.

He found that he was very tired, but not so fatigued as to miss that Misty was walking side by side with him. She was close enough that it was a wonder they hadn't bumped into each other, and from the almost dreamy look on her face, Ash guessed that his companion was as exhausted as he was.

"Hey," he said quietly, stealing a glance at his watch and gawking at the time, nearly two in the morning. "We should probably get some sleep tonight if we want to have any energy at all tomorrow."

Misty raised her eyebrows as her head cleared a little and she processed what he said. "Yeah," she answered, stopping and looking about for a good place to set up some kind of camp. Quite some time ago the trainers had left the beaten path behind and while they were vaguely aware of it then, it was only now that they realized they had been forging their own way north. "I think right here will do," Misty said, at a loss. They were surrounded by tall grass now that, to them it seemed, had come from nowhere.

Ash nodded and that was the end of the discussion. Both trainers stepped about in the grass a little to beat it down into some semblance of a level surface, then unpacked their bedrolls and climbed inside their respective sleeping bags. Neither one commented on their proximity, less than a foot separated them, and the tall grass ringing them in made the company feel even closer, but neither did it seem to affect a thing. No sooner had they lain down than had Misty scooted back against Ash who, in turn, curled around her some as though it was the most natural thing to do.

It might have been the fatigue, Ash thought as his mind became even hazier with sleep, and it might have been the utter lack of real human contact, but he couldn't recall a time when he was more comfortable than he was now. Even here, in the middle of the Viridian Forest, undoubtedly surrounded by dangers and unable to perceive a clear path, Ash went almost immediately to sleep, but not before reaching out of his sleeping bag and putting one arm around Misty without a second thought.

SC

The next morning came and went. Ash and Misty both slept through it while Pikachu, needing little sleep by comparison, woke before the outer world witnessed sunrise and kept watch. It wasn't until after one in the afternoon that Misty began to wake up, and even then she was barely lucid enough to tell by his steady breathing that Ash was still asleep. A few moments after opening her eyes she noticed that a heavy arm lay across her waist and effectively tethered her to the ground.

Blushing at first she thought about moving to wake Ash up, but quickly decided that she saw no benefit in the idea. They were likely as safe here as anywhere in the forest, she told herself, and the ordeal they'd been through yesterday had taken more energy than either one had to spare. No, she decided, it would be best to just let him sleep while she recovered as much of her strength as possible… and it wasn't as though she minded the current situation.

Taking the next half an hour to plan out what should be done once they reached Pewter, Misty carefully rolled in place and put her face against Ash's chest. He didn't mind, she told herself. _We're going to have to face Brock at some point,_ she thought. _That won't be fun at all and we shouldn't even think about it until we've taken a day at the Pokémon Center to get some real rest._

A loud growl made her start as Ash stirred and opened one eye. "What was that?" Misty asked quietly, reaching instinctively for her pokeballs.

Ash shook some of the sleep from his eyes and blinked several times before he took his arm off her waist and sat up a little. The sound came again, this time a little louder and Ash grinned as he pointed to his stomach. "How about we have some breakfast," he said with what cheer he could.

The party renewed its trek after a brief breakfast, the spoils of which they buried. The terrain was sloping more and more downhill and ran so steep at points that both trainers nearly jogged with as little energy as it took to walk. Their spirits began to brighten with the canopy overhead as light began to break through the dark growth overhead. By five o'clock it was bright enough that Ash could easily make out the forest's features for as far as the clusters of trees would let him see. By six the canopy was growing thin enough that both trainers caught glimpses of the sky.

At ten minutes till seven, Ash and Misty both stopped in their tracks and stared for a minute at the sight before them. They could see breaks in the wall of trees ahead, beyond which there were no more trees, only golden grass and a blue sky. Glancing at each other once, they both broke into wide grins and jogged for the exit. A few seconds later they passed underneath the arches of foliage and into daylight, open daylight and warm sunshine. The warm afternoon was a welcome change from the darkness of Viridian and both trainers, and Pikachu of course, took a minute to just stand at the top of the small rise at the exit of the forest.

Ash turned around and looked back at the dense trees, then turned north again and looked out over the fairly flat terrain. From where they stood, Ash and Misty both saw the outskirts of Pewter City easily enough. The tall stone wall surrounding the locale made the city almost impossible to miss, but beyond the barrier, neither trainer could see any buildings except for a small section of the red roof of the Pokémon Center.

As they began to cross the kilometer or so of grassland laying between the city and themselves, Ash and Misty both found themselves walking steadily faster and faster for the gate set in the southern side of the wall. They slowed however when they saw that the heavy wooden doors were closed and no soul was visible on their side of the gate. _It is getting towards night,_ thought Ash, _and Viridian is just over there. _Stopping in front of the gate, Ash quickly found the smaller steel door set in the side of the main structure. He knocked loudly on it and, when no answer came, slammed the butt of his fist against it twice.

A small slide in the door clicked open and two eyes stared out at Ash and Misty through the tightly barred slit. "Who are you?" asked the gruff voice on the other side. "What do you want in Pewter City?"

"We're heading for the Pokémon Center," said Ash, as politely as he could. "I'm Professor Oak's grandson," said Ash when the guard's hesitation to open the door became obvious, "and I need to see the gym leader."

"Lies," said the man quickly. "We just got word from the Viridian Police Department that Pallet Town was destroyed the other day. There weren't any survivors."

"Not true," said Misty, shaking her head. "The Professor is alive and the two of us survived," she gestured to Ash and herself. "We've just gotten out of the Viridian Forest and we're tired and we need supplies. Please, let us in."

The guard looked them over for a second longer then, grumbling, unlatched the door and pulled it open. The heavy portal swung on creaking hinges and Ash and Misty quickly stepped through. "I'm not supposed to let anyone in if they're not an emissary from the Elite Four," said the guard, a tall man, maybe twenty years old with brown hair and a gnarled and badly scarred face. "That's what Brock said, but you look more trustable than most of the other folks wanting in."

"Thanks very much," said Ash, glancing around and quickly noting that he, Misty, and the guard were not the only ones around. Five other men, dressed in grey uniforms just like the first guard, watched as Ash and Misty entered from their posts along the top of the wall. Each man had two pokeballs on his belt and wore a steel cap as a helmet. "What's going on here?" asked Ash, looking behind him into the city proper and seeing only a few people moving between the squat buildings. "Why the tight security?"

"Hmph," snorted the man with the scars winding from one cheek to the other. "Things' been bad in the area lately," he said. "Been lots of disappearances and been several trainers turn up dead 'long route 3 to the east. People are saying bandits are prowling the wilds more now than ever. So far Pewter's been safe but Brock wants to keep it that way: ordered us to lock things down here and keep 'em that way so you two better'ed move on the Center or the Gym or wherever you've got your business without causing trouble. Hear?"

Ash and Misty both nodded and thanked the man again for letting them in before quickly heading in the direction of the Pokémon Center. "Bandits?" asked Ash once they were out of earshot of the guard. "I didn't know there were still people like that in this area." They passed by several blue uniformed police officers who paused to briefly inspect them, but left the trainers alone.

"This isn't Saffron or Celadon," said Misty as the party rounded a corner and arrived at the Center which was, by far, the most conspicuous structure in the town of short, grey, buildings. "This is the frontier after all and there isn't much in the way of law here. The Gym and the police can keep the city safe, but there's not much they can do beyond the city limits."

Ash nodded as they entered the Center through the big glass doors. The layout of the foyer here was identical to the Pokémon Center in Viridian, with halls leading off to different places within the complex. Between each hall there was a desk with two clerks busily sorting through paperwork. Misty started forward, pulling her wallet from the side pocket of her pack.

"I'll get the room," said Misty, patting Ash on the shoulder as she moved by him. "You should probably take your Pokémon to the hospital wing and at least have them looked over."

"Sounds good," Ash said. "Meet me in the waiting room?"

"Yeah," said Misty. "How big a room do we want?"

Ash shrugged. "Keep it economical. We are on a budget."

Misty acknowledged with a nod and they parted company. She stood at the desk and began speak with one of the clerks while Ash set off with Pikachu for the other wing. Noting how eerily similar this Pokémon Center was to the one in Viridian, Ash took his Pokémon the Center's equivalent of a clinic, having decided that the emergency room was likely unnecessary. After filling out the necessary paperwork he paid for the service with some of the remaining money he'd received from Team Rocket, and left for the waiting room with Pikachu. The rodent had refused to be left at the clinic and instead sat stubbornly on top of Ash's head.

Misty arrived less than half an hour later with the news that she'd gotten a room for the night and already scoped it out. Ash stopped back at the clinic to give the clerk his room number in case news needed to be relayed, then left with Misty and went upstairs. Misty had rented a corner room on the fifth floor of the center that was quite nearly three times the size of the room they'd shared in Viridian. In one of the corners windows stretched floor to ceiling and provided them with a bird's eye view of the majority of the city. Despite the grandiose size of the room, the furnishings were fairly Spartan; there were two twin beds, a small refrigerator and a kitchen area, a pair of chairs on opposite sides of a small table, and nothing else.

"Didn't we agree we were on a budget?" Ash asked, setting his pack on one of the beds and looking around. "How much did this cost?"

"I managed to get us a free upgrade," said Misty. "There haven't been many people, not even many trainers, coming through Pewter recently and the Center has a lot of empty rooms. The man at the desk said that if I rented a room for more than a night he'd give us an upgrade to a corner room."

"So how long do we have this?" asked Ash, walking to the window and looking out. He could plainly make out the Gym, a building no taller than any of the other homes or businesses in Pewter, but which took up nearly a whole city block.

"Four days," said Misty, nonchalantly. "I thought that since today is almost over we'd just rest up. Tomorrow we can try to recover as much as we can while getting a feel for the town. The day after tomorrow I thought we'd go to the Gym and see about getting Brock to recommend to the Elite Four that we be allowed to go through."

"Speaking of," said Ash, walking across the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I was thinking about that on our way through the forest… How are we going to convince a Gym Leader that he should tell the Elite Four, the best trainers in the world, that they should let us passed them?"

"Simple," said Misty. "We go to the Gym, tell Brock exactly what we're planning to do, and then prove we're capable of following though. Generally Gym Leaders respect power and intelligence so one of us might have to challenge him directly… and win… to prove that we're at least of his caliber. If we're stronger than him, what choice will he have but to do what we want?"

"So we bully him?" asked Ash.

Misty shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not," she said. "He might want to fight us if he feels his authority has been challenged. He might have us perform some service to the City or something. I'm pretty sure he won't just give us a recommendation though and if he doesn't even want to talk then, well…"

"We'll 'attack' the gym," said Ash calmly. "But only as a show of force."

"Right," Misty nodded. "We show him we mean business and aren't going away until we get what we're after."

Ash smiled a little. "We could be thrown out of the city for this," he said. "If it does come down to a fight and if we lose the there's nothing to stop them from throwing us in prison or worse."

"I know. But it's our best shot at Team Rocket."

Ash agreed and pointed out that he had no intention of backing down. He was just trying to come up with the best plan possible. Misty rummaged through her pack and pulled out a few power bars, saying that they should eat and then discuss it.

Understanding the hint, Ash simply nodded and added that they should restock tomorrow.

After dinner and a quick rummage through the refrigerator, in which someone had randomly left a half empty bottle of low-grade whiskey, Ash decided that he was going to take a shower and turn in for the night. Much to his chagrin however, their rented room lacked a bathroom and Misty had to inform him that the each floor of the Center had its own communal bathroom which serviced each room.

That night both Ash and Misty went to bed relatively early after mapping out their plans for the next day. The next morning both got up shortly after sunrise and the rest of the day passed without incident. Ash went to the clinic and retrieved both Fearow and Growlithe, the latter of whom the trainer was informed, was definitely in the early stages of evolving into a healthy, if unusually robust Arcanine. Ash relayed the news to Misty and both trainers set out into Pewter to get a feel for the town.

Perhaps the most important thing they uncovered that day, Ash noted an utter lack of anything even remotely related to Team Rocket. The organization had no office in the city, no members in the streets, and ostensibly no presence whatsoever. Also, Misty pointed out while at the super-market, the food shortage seemed to have eluded Pewter thus far. The store's shelves were stocked with rice, wheat, and many other staple crops, all of which, even those which were out of season, were fairly inexpensive.

After their first full day in Pewter, Ash and Misty returned to the Pokémon Center with a haul of nuts, dried berries, hardtack, and other trail-friendly foods, and sat in the Center's lounge-like cafeteria, having decided to have dinner where there was a TV, as Misty wanted to see what would be on the local news.

"… and in what can only be described as a travesty," the attractive female anchor reported from the studio, as pictures of destruction and blown out buildings cycled through a news box in the upper corner of the screen, "Pallet Town has been completely wiped out."

Ash finished a mouthful of noodles and turned to Misty. "You think they're going to mention us?" he asked.

Misty shook her head. "I hope not," she muttered. "That'd make keeping a low profile difficult, and it's already hard enough."

"Now for more details," continued the anchor as the screen switched over to a reporter who both trainers noticed was among the ruins of the city, "we turn to field reporter Mason Charleston, on scene in Pallet Town."

"Thanks Anna," said the reporter as Ash and Misty watched. "Now it's been several days since a Red Gyarados, that's right, a _Red_ Gyarados, rampaged through the town leaving no building untouched, but already you can see that nature is starting to take back this peaceful little hamlet." The camera, positioned atop the hill on which Ash's house had stood only days ago, began panning across the scene and zooming in on various parts of the town as the reporter's monologue went on. "Now early reports had suggested that there were survivors," said the reporter as the camera refocused on him, "but those accounts are proving difficult to confirm. Reports yesterday suggested that perhaps Professor Oak had survived the attack, but if that's true then no one knows where the legendary scientist is now, since he has not, to the best of this reporter's knowledge contacted anyone. Back to you Anna."

"Thanks Mason," said the anchor, "we'll keep following this story, but now let's turn to-"

Ash glanced over at Misty, who looked back at him. Curiosity was plain on both faces and Ash's face hardened. "Grandpa's gone missing?" he asked, not sure what to make of the news. "Where's he gone I wonder."

Shrugging, Misty finished her supper before answering. "He probably salvaged whatever he could from his lab, destroyed the rest, and went somewhere safer and quiet to work," she said. "With the lab in shambles and the town destroyed, there was no real reason for him to stay in Pallet any longer than he had to."

"Makes sense," Ash nodded. "I just wish I had some way to get into contact with him."

Misty smiled and put one hand on Ash's shoulder. "He'll be fine," she said. "He's a legend for a reason after all. Now c'mon," she stood up. "We should get as much rest as we can. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Right," said Ash. He stood up and took Misty's tray, setting it on top of his as they walked for the cafeteria's exit. "Brock's waiting."

SC

The frigid air hit Ash and Misty like a slap to the face as the door to Pewter City's Gym slid open. Standing in the warm sunlight and looking into the dark gym strained Ash's eyes and he took a moment to let his vision sharpen before stepping forward, followed immediately by the redheaded trainer. As the door slid shut behind them the trainers again had to wait for their eyes to further adjust as the world seemed to temporarily go dark.

Inside it was dry and cool, with light coming only from thin vents in the ceiling that allowed in, and thoroughly scattered, very little sunlight. The level landing at Ash's feet sloped suddenly and steeply downwards, narrow stairs leading down to a sandy pit dotted with rocks and boulders that stretched on at the bottom. To the new arrivals it seemed that the vast majority of the building, or possibly all of it, was this single, huge pit of a room. Along the far wall, Ash could see, there were bunks and chairs laid out in perfect symmetry, but the Spartan furniture was hardly what drew Ash's attention.

Around the edges of the sandy pit sat maybe half a dozen people, watching the action playing out in the center of the ring where a large humanoid Pokémon, a Machoke, grappled with an equally large Pokémon that Ash did not recognize. The second Pokémon, an odd thing not unlike a man-sized boulder with four strong arms, fought with the Machoke, wrestling for a good hold and looking for a moment as though it might subdue the fighter. The Machoke however roared and strained, muscles like living stone bulging in its arms and back, lifting the other Pokémon over his head and completely off the ground.

"Enough!" shouted one of the two trainers standing around the perimeter of the fight. "Graveler's done. You win!" The trainer, a boy younger than Ash, with silvery hair and a ruddy complexion, threw a pokeball as the Machoke set the Graveler down, and the stony Pokémon disappeared in the ensuing flash of white light.

"The challenge is complete," said another man, standing up from the center of the group of spectators seated on the floor. He immediately struck Ash as the most likely candidate for the Gym Leader, given his obviously being older than those around him, and his weathered appearance. "You've lost," he said, bass voice echoing in the room, addressing the defeated trainer, "but you performed well enough to merit another challenge in the future, should you desire it. Leave now but return when you judge you've risen to a level worth of joining the Pewter City Gym." The address sounded all very formal, and Ash guessed that Brock, if that was really Brock, had delivered it several times before.

The Machoke's trainer, a girl who looked to be about Misty's age, returned her Pokémon to its pokeball and turned to rejoin the other gym members as the defeated trainer quickly walked for the door. The exiting boy stopped for a moment to examine Ash and Misty, before passing by them muttering "good luck, you'll need it" and leaving the gym.

Ash and Misty both began descending the stairs, being careful not to slip, as Brock's narrow eyes focused on them and all of the gym members focused on the new arrivals. "Welcome," said Brock, his tone cool but not unfriendly. "It's going to be a busy day it seems," he continued as Ash and Misty crossed to the center of the sandy pit. "What can we do for you?"

"You must be Brock," said Ash when Misty's little nod gave him the cue to do the talking for now. "My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," said the young trainer when Brock nodded the affirmative, "and I've made the trip here hoping that you and I could talk."

Brock took a few steps forward, as the other gym members watched, and advanced a quarter of the way across the pit to stand within comfortable speaking distance of Ash. "Professor Oak's prodigy," said Brock, a smile creasing his lips. "I've heard of you. You and your grandfather were the ones who sealed the rabid Nidoking and Nidoqueen in the lowest pit of Diglett's Cave. Pallet's destruction has been all over the news for the last two days. I wasn't aware that anyone survived but it's nice to know that someone got out. What are you doing here though?"

"Well," Ash sighed, deciding to be frank. "I want you to write a letter of recommendation to the Elite Four, stating that you think I should be allowed into that caves beyond Indigo Plateau."

The statement lingered in the air for a long moment as Brock scrutinized Ash's face. "Oh," said the Gym leader a minute later, laughing once as he spoke when he realized the demand was serious. "Is that all you'd like me to do? " Brock chuckled as the other gym members snickered and chattered quietly amongst themselves.

"I don't see what makes it amusing," said Ash, his face completely grave. "Will you or won't you?"

Brock stood still and took a breath, studying Ash a moment longer before continuing. "Fine, I'll humor you," said the leader. "Why do you want me to recommend to the Elite Four that you be allowed to commit suicide on their front door?"

"Simple," said Ash. "Team Rocket is trying to circumvent the Elite Four and get to the bottom of Cerulean Cave. I want to get there first but the only way I can do that is to go through the caves behind Indigo Plateau. Now, are you going to help me or not?"

"Uh," Brock stammered, looking across the sand at his guest. "Well… Um. You're being totally serious aren't you?"

Ash nodded. "I'm travelling to all of the Gyms for recommendations to the Elite Four and I'm prepared to use any means necessary to get your recommendation."

Glancing between Ash and Misty, Brock held up one hand and made a quick motion. One of the gym members leapt to his feet and bounded down the edges of the pit into the arena. "You've got more balls than brains, I think," said the Gym Leader, turning around and walking for the edges of the pit. "Walking in here and so rudely and demanding that I make myself look foolish in front of the Elite Four… that's audacity, but I'm not about to simply brush off Professor Oak's grandson so lightly so I'll give you a legitimate chance." He motioned to the young trainer who had taken his place in the pit. "My youngest brother here is quite a talented trainer. Already he's caught and raised several notable Pokémon. If you can defeat him in a one on one match, no holds barred, I'll give you a chance to convince me of your strength. If you fail, then you leave. Deal?"

Ash glanced at Misty and she nodded only enough that Ash could pick up on the motion. "Deal," said Ash, looking up at Pikachu who sat atop his head as Misty quickly removed herself from the pit and found herself a spot on the edge well away from the other members. "I'll even send mine out first. Pikachu, you're up."

As the little yellow Pokémon jumped eagerly to the ground, Ash noticed Misty shaking her head once. _Don't worry,_ thought Ash. _If I'm remembering right, it's only Brock who uses Pokémon Pikachu is weak against._ He reached down and patted the fourth pokeball on his belt. _And when I get to Brock then our trump card will come into play._

"I'll take care of him quick big brother!" shouted the young trainer opposite Ash, a boy who couldn't have been more obviously Brock's sibling. "Nidorino, get out there," he said, tossing out a pokeball that burst open and released a flash of light.

Ash waited until the glow congealed into the purple Pokémon he recognized from his journeys with his grandfather. _No sweat,_ he thought. "Pikachu, just like we planned."

Brock held up one hand after he took a seat in the center of the line of gym members. "Alright, best of luck to you both," he said. "The match will end once one trainer surrenders or upon the incapacitation or death of all his Pokémon. Begin." He dropped his hand.

"Poison sting!" barked the younger trainer. Immediately the purple Nidorino bolted forward and lowered its head, charging straight at Pikachu. The little Pokémon, without even a spoken command from his trainer, leapt into the air, easily clearing Nidorino's horn with several inches to spare, and discharged a spiraling yellow bolt from his cheeks. The attack snapped into the back of Nidorino's skull and popped like a firecracker, splitting into dozens of little fingers of electricity that skittered across the Pokémon's frame.

Instantly the Nidorino collapsed as though dead, and Pikachu landed nimbly opposite the fallen Pokémon. Ash grinned and gave Pikachu a thumbs up before turning to the stunned young trainer opposite him. "Don't get all worked up," said Ash, seeing the dismay breaking across the boy's features. "It was just a paralyzing attack. Your Pokémon will be fine in a few hours," Ash grinned widely now. "But he won't be moving a muscle until then."

Brock cleared his throat. "Careful Alex," said the leader. "You underestimated his Pokémon's alacrity. Don't make the same mistake again."

The younger trainer's face reddened with embarrassment as he recalled Nidorino to his pokeball and threw out another of the orbs. "Mankey," he said, without acknowledging Brock. "Bring the noise." The pokeball snapped open and the flash of white light quickly warped into the shape of a little primate with wicked red eyes. "Fury Swipes!"

The Mankey sprang at Pikachu, hands thrust forward, claws extended to rend and tear, but Pikachu rolled easily out of the way and, again without any prodding from Ash, attacked. Another bolt of paralyzing energy snapped across the gap between Pikachu and Mankey, making the primate's form go suddenly rigid, but this time Pikachu followed through and sank his teeth into Mankey's shoulder and kicked at the Pokémon's vulnerable belly with his back feet and his sharp nails.

Ash grinned again. Pikachu was playing his role brilliantly. _That's right,_ thought Ash, seeing Alex's features fall again. _Keep it up with the superficial damage and save your energy…_ "Had enough?" he asked loudly, quickly grabbing Alex's attention and exploiting the growing doubt in the boy's bright green eyes. "My Pikachu's just playing around. I could tell him to get serious if you don't give up."

"Eh?" the younger trainer gasped, looking between the now incapacitated Mankey and Ash. He glanced over his shoulder at Brock who sat stone-faced and simply observed. "I give I give," he blurted, reaching out one hand and throwing the pokeball at Mankey. Pikachu retreated from his prey in time to avoid the pokeball and scurried back to Ash. "You win."

Ash straightened up as Alex, biting his lip and shaking uncomfortably turned around to face Brock. He didn't say anything and stood immobile, waiting for his older brother to speak. The other gym members were all quietly speaking amongst themselves and glancing between Ash and Brock, who sat silently and watched Ash.

"Alex," said the Gym Leader after a moment. "That was a good call on your part. You were outclassed and couldn't have won. You made the right choice. Now, go to the center and get your Pokémon patched up."

Alex nodded and turned away as quickly as possible, looking down to hide his face.

"Poor guy," Ash muttered under his breath, watching as the trainer ran from the pit and made for the door as quickly as he could. "I hope he takes something away from this."

"Alright," said Brock, standing back up and opening his arms up a little. "You've got some skill. I suppose I could have you face the rest of my brothers and sisters here," he motioned to the six other gym members, "but you're probably out of their leagues so how about we skip to what you're really here for then. Brock walked down into the pit and took a pokeball from his belt. "I'm warning you now that I'm not going to tolerate your challenging my authority like this. If you leave now then that will be the end of it, but if you stay then we settle this."

Ash nodded to one side and Pikachu fell back behind him. "I'm not going anywhere," said Ash, moving one hand down to the pokeballs on his belt.

"Your call," said Brock, throwing out one pokeball and taking a deep breath. "Golem, it's your turn." The trainers lining the pit all watched with rapt attention as a Pokémon only a little shorter than Brock leapt to life from the Pokeball and took form. Its body was a nearly perfectly spherical boulder with two legs, two arms, and a simple, jutting head with a mouth lined with sharp teeth that caught the diffuse light in the room and glimmered. Claws on the ends of each limb twinkled just like the teeth as the Golem locked its white, iris-less, eyes on Ash.

Tossing out the new Pokeball, Ash smirked when it snapped open and the hulking form of Misty's Blastoise dropped onto all fours on the front line. Her breath catching, Misty put both hands up in front of her mouth. She knew Blastoise respected Ash, and she knew that it had understood her order to obey Ash, but she could only pray that it would follow through on that order now. _It'll take a miracle for Blastoise to obey his commands,_ Misty fretted, knowing that, of all her Pokémon, Blastoise was the most willful. Then again, something told her, the unfeasible had a funny way of happening around Ash.

Blastoise and Golem immediately glared at each other, a heated rivalry springing from nothing between them. _Blastoise is a stubborn Pokémon,_ thought Ash, comfortable now that he could control the battle, _but he's powerful… and if there's anything a powerful Pokémon likes, it's a challenge._

"Rollout," Brock said, calm but loud.

Golem dropped to the ground on command, and heaved with its powerful hind legs, tucking its arms and head and hurling itself at Blastoise like a freight train. As Ash commanded it to 'roll with the blow,' Blastoise dropped one shoulder and took the attack, letting Golem's momentum pivot Blastoise around on one leg as the Golem rolled passed, doing minimal damage. "Yes," Ash hissed, pumping one arm when the move worked. "Keep it up until it runs out of stamina," Ash shouted to Blastoise.

The huge turtle of a Pokémon turned to face the oncoming Golem as the boulder of a Pokémon came rolling back around again, spraying up dust and dirt behind him. Again Blastoise dropped one shoulder and pivoted, allowing Golem to simply push passed him. Two more times, then three, then four, Blastoise caught just the edges of Golem's massive attacks and absorbed minimal energy. Under normal circumstances Misty's Pokémon would have been reduced to pulp by the crushing force of the rollout, but as Blastoise followed Ash's directions each time, the attacks did next to nothing.

Misty watched, less amazed than she expected herself to be. It didn't surprise her that Blastoise was obedient; secretly she'd almost been expecting that, but the extent to which it not only obeyed, but understood, was baffling. _Ash didn't even have to explain what he wanted,_ Misty reflected. _Blastoise just understood._ She knew from experience that her Pokémon was not that quick on the uptake. _And what does that say about Ash?_ she wondered, watching the grinning trainer battle the Gym Leader.

_That's it,_ thought Ash, _run him out of energy._

_That's it,_ thought Brock, _soften him up._

"Now Golem," shouted Brock as the profoundly heavy Pokémon rolled at Blastoise for another attack. "Body-Slam!" Golem gave another tremendous heave with his back legs and suddenly flew through the air in a shallow arc towards Blastoise, moving far too fast for something so weighty. Blastoise, crouched on all fours in the open however, had plenty of room to maneuver.

"Switch and blast!" ordered Ash.

Blastoise intuitively understood the directions in Ash's order, and took one hulking sidestep and aimed his water-cannon. Just as Golem passed by where Blastoise had been a split second before, a jet of water under otherworldly pressure rocketed from the cannon and slammed into Golem's side with the roar of a thunderclap. Ash's ears rang from the shock and Golem's trajectory shifted acutely. The stony Pokémon continued through the air, just over the ground, and slammed into one of the boulders dotting the pit.

As the Pokémon and the boulder both disappeared in a cloud of rubble and dust, an ear-splitting crash and a shrieking grinding echoed in the cavernous room. Brock raised an eyebrow and the other gym members gaped at the scene while Ash had to reach up to cover his face to block the flying splinters of rock. Pikachu ducked behind his trainer's leg for shelter.

Over the course of the next silent minute, the dust gradually settled and the shape of a very immobile Golem formed in the haze of floating debris where the boulder had been. Blastoise let out a satisfied rumble of a growl as he lumbered to Ash's side. The trainer reached out and patted the Pokémon on the back of its head as Brock took a pokeball and tossed it at the Golem. The Pokémon's shape disappeared into the ball which snapped back into Brock's hand. The leader studied the ball, for a moment, waiting for the light on the lock to diagnose the held Pokémon's status. Slowly the light came on, then went off, and Brock sighed.

"Well I suppose I should thank you for not killing my Pokémon," said the leader. "But you shouldn't think this is over yet." Brock glared at Ash now, reaching for the second of three pokeballs on his belt. "I'm still giving you one last chance to surrender and leave."

Ash grinned, intentionally cocky. "You haven't been able to lay a finger on me," said the trainer. "I'm not the one who should be thinking about surrendering. Why don't you just give in and give m your gym's recommendation?"

"Why?" asked Brock, voice controlled. "You haven't seen my best yet," he said, holding out the pokeball. He flicked his wrist and opened the ball without letting go and a blindingly bright light exploded from the container, pouring out in a stream that seemed to Ash to go on and on. Quickly though, a huge form began to take shape, one of a serpentine monster whose head nearly brushed the ceiling of the gym and whose body descended to the floor and then coiled out and around Brock.

"This is why," said Brock as the light coalesced into the enormous, charcoal grey figure of the snake. "This is Onyx."

Ash raised his eyebrows and stared up at the face of the behemoth Pokémon. Obsidian black eyes with red cat-pupils glared down at him from a story above. The rest of Onyx's body, all sixty feet of it, curved around, forming a crescent behind Brock and ending in a tail that had been honed down into a wickedly sharp sickle of a blade.

Misty's breath caught. From her seat on the side the contrast was even more stark. Looking down on the scene, Blastoise appeared to be miniscule compared to the new Pokémon and Ash looked like an insect.

_You've got to be shitting me,_ Ash thought, looking up at the Onyx. The sheer weight of the Pokémon's swinging tail would level whatever Ash could throw at it, not to mention the deadliness of the bladed tail surpassed anything Ash had ever seen before. He didn't even want to think about the effects of a well timed bite. "Okay," said Ash, recalling Blastoise to his pokeball in a quick motion and a glimmer of light. "Pikachu, we're counting on your speed for this," he said. "You can do it."

Without even looking for encouragement, Pikachu leapt down to the ground and put himself between the huge, segmented snake and Ash. His cheeks crackled with energy, but dimmed when Ash quickly said that this would be a battle of endurance. "Your agility is key here," said Ash, as Brock gave Onyx a quiet, pre-fight talk. "No matter what, you have to avoid the tail and the jaws, do that and the rest is gravy." Pikachu chittered in acknowledgement.

"You can't win," said Brock. "Just give up."

Ash shook his head. "Pikachu, double team!"

Onyx lurched forward as Brock ordered it to use a slam attack. Both trainers took several steps back as Onyx reared around, bringing its massive tail down where Pikachu had been a second before and tearing up the floor of the pit in a mammoth crash. The yellow rodent disappeared in a blur of speed and reappeared far to Onyx's left, ready and waiting. Again the huge snake struck on Brock's order and slammed the ground where Pikachu had just been. Again though, Pikachu nimbly dodged the attack.

Alternating between 'double-team' and 'agility,' Ash continued barking orders for Pikachu to evade Onyx's heavy-hitting attacks. Several more times Brock ordered slams or tackle attacks, but nothing connected with Ash's Pikachu. More than once Pikachu jumped in midair, only to disappear in a blur of impossible speed as Onyx tried to bat him with a stony tail.

_If there's anything Pikachu can do all day long,_ Ash thought to himself, heart pounding and adrenaline beginning to burn in his veins, _it's this kind of acrobatic work._ The majority of any Pikachu's fame, Ash remembered, was their ability to so accurately manipulate electrical energy for attacks. The Pikachu's greatest strength, though, was that they could use that same electrical precision to super charge their own reflexes, making them nigh untouchable. _And Pikachu's only gotten faster since we left Pallet,_ Ash noted, seeing a marked improvement in his Pokémon over even its performance in Viridian Forest.

Moving faster by the minute as a quarter of an hour rolled by, Pikachu dodged out of the way of every one of Onyx's attacks and showed no signs of slowing. Flying in the face of reason though, and frustrating Ash to no end, Onyx seemed to be speeding up, not slowing down. Each swing of its tail seemed to miss Pikachu by a little less than the last attack. Ash gritted his teeth, wondering how in the world something as heavy as Onyx could keep up that kind of momentum.

Then, without a command from Brock, Onyx lashed out horizontally with its tail, sweeping the sickle along the ground towards Pikachu with unnatural speed. Pikachu jumped straight up to avoid the attack, lacking the time to dodge to one side or the other, and that's when the side of the serpent's stone jaw slammed into Pikachu. Onyx had spun itself in fully around the fulcrum of the central and largest stone of its body, following up one attack immediately with a second.

Pikachu was knocked reeling from the hit and Ash gasped. _It's alright,_ Ash told himself as Pikachu righted himself and landed atop a boulder. _The blow was horizontal and didn't crush Pikachu against anything._ It still ate at Ash's nerves, especially now that Brock's siblings had begun to cheer. _How does it keep up that kind of speed?_

Pikachu shook itself out, recovering quickly from the sudden shock, then leapt aside as Onyx's tail crashed into the boulder on which Pikachu had lighted, crushing it to pebbles. Again, Onyx swung its huge head through the air and caught Pikachu with the side of his stony mandible and knocked Pikachu against one of the slopes of the ring. The sand absorbed most of Pikachu's impact, but the little Pokémon still bounced up and squeaked as the hit left it breathless.

"Move in," said Brock, inciting Onyx to slither in, closing the gap between itself and Pikachu. The huge Pokémon at first moved straight for Ash, forcing the trainer to take a wary step back, then turned ninety degrees and b-lined for Pikachu. The yellow rodent was almost too stunned to hear Ash shout for him to look out, but a quick surge of electricity strengthened the Pokémon's limbs and he flung himself away. An instant later, Onyx's head crashed into the ground next to Pikachu and the serpent straightened up with a mouth full of sand.

Brock grinned. "You were no doubt counting on Pikachu to outpace Onyx and run him out of energy," said the Gym Leader calmly as the stalemate between the combatants resumed and Onyx slowed just enough for Pikachu to stay one step ahead. "Normally I'd applaud your strategy as an ordinary Onyx _is _slow andtires quickly, but this _is_ a gym battle," Brock shrugged. "And what kind of leader would I be if I didn't have some extraordinary Pokémon?"

"So this is the part where the villain starts monologuing, is that it?" asked Ash as Pikachu sustained another horizontal blow that knocked him to the other side of the arena. _Damn, I'd counted on all that mass,_ he glanced at Onyx, _being too much to move quickly. He fooled me there._

Brock grinned. "There's no harm in it. I'm still willing to let you go if you surrender now. That's a pretty good offer given your position."

"Write me a recommendation and I'll leave," said Ash, a thought sparking. "Pikachu! Flash!"

As if it read Ash's mind, Pikachu jumped straight into the air, higher than any escape would require, and right into Onyx's face. Ash knew to shield his eyes, but no one else in the room saw it coming. Pikachu exploded like a miniature sun in a blast of light that would have dazzled someone on the moon. Even after putting his arm in front of his closed eyes, Ash still saw red spots hovering in his vision when he again scanned the room. He clearly saw the chaos he'd caused though and it made him smile.

Brock and the rest of the gym members had all dropped to their hands and knees if they weren't already sitting, and rubbed at their eyes. Misty had been on the opposite side of Onyx from Pikachu, but the light had still stunned her and made her turn away. The flash would have blinded someone in the openness of daylight, and the effect was only magnified in the dim interior of the gym.

Pikachu dropped to the ground, faltering as it landed. Ash could only guess that the intensity of the blast had not left Pikachu unharmed. The tips of the Pokémon's needles of fur were tinged black and, taking a second look, Ash immediately now saw that Onyx's face had been darkened just a little by the flash. "Jeez," muttered the trainer from Pallet, "overkill much?"

"Good - gods," Brock stammered, opening and closing his eyes, and then wondering if he'd done so at all. To him it seemed just as dark either way. "What was that?"

"Surrender and I'll tell you," said Ash, loud enough for everyone in the gym to hear.

Brock refused to answer immediately, instead shouting out for Onyx, demanding to know where the Pokémon was positioned. The serpent growled in response, but that told the leader nothing.

"Or can you fight blind, with a blind Pokémon?" asked Ash. "By the time any of you get your sight back I'll have had plenty of time to bring this to an end."

Pausing, Brock cast about, trying in vain to make heads or tails of anything. Nothing, not even shadows danced before his eyes. "Fine," said the Gym Leader. "Fine, you win. I'll write your recommendation to Indigo Plateau if you get out of my gym."

"Phew," Ash sighed under his breath. _That was a lucky break._ He looked at Pikachu, grimacing when he saw the Pokémon swooning from exertion.

* * *

AN: Before anyone asks, no, Pikachu is not invincible. He can take as much punishment from Onyx as he does because Onyx's attacks fail to smash Pikachu into anything. Because Pikachu moves with the hit, he absorbs the energy of the blow over a much longer period of time and thus benefits from greatly reduced trauma. To put it as a very clever friend of mine did, it's the same concept as a human hitting a fly; if you smash it against a table, then SPLAT, guts go flying everywhere, whereas if you just hit it in midair the bug isn't killed.

Anyway, there's my physics lesson for the day. You're dismissed but make sure you get your homework in next period.

Peace!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Well greetings and salutations. I hope the wait wasn't too long for anyone, but that said, I'm in a fairly rough state as far as computers are concerned. My laptop's cooked because I used a power cord that was rated for double the amps my computer was designed to take and I currently lack the funds to purchase another that isn't a piece of crap. So updates might be a little slow for the next few chapters. Anyway, here's chapter seven. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to all those who review!

* * *

Chapter Seven – Frontier Life

"Brock sure seemed to be in an all fire hurry to get us out of his gym," Ash smirked at Misty across their rented room at the Pokémon Center. "It was almost like he didn't enjoy our company."

Misty shook her head and continued packing her meager pile of belongings into her backpack. "You really shouldn't let beating your first gym leader today make you cocky," she said.

"I know, I know," said Ash with a self-satisfied grin. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help. Loaning me Blastoise was a huge bonus, and I'm not even sure how you knew which Pokémon Brock would throw at me, but I still appreciate the coaching-"

"That's not what I'm saying," said Misty, ostensibly struggling to avoid becoming angry as the evening sunlight illuminated the room. "I think we both know that luck played a huge role today, and you can't keep relying on that because one of these days you're going to run out of that luck."

Ash blinked, not sure what to make of Misty's mood. She'd been some odd combination of sourly congratulatory and happy for the victory. "Ok," he said without any particular emotion coloring his words, "I'll admit that the Flash attack was a little off the cuff, but it worked, and if we ever find ourselves in a similar situation, now we know it will work in our favor. Other than that though, the fight went pretty much as we planned, right?"

Misty shook her head. "You don't get it," she muttered.

"Don't get what?" asked Ash. "I thought you'd be happy that we've taken a big step forward."

"I'm not denying that," said Misty. "It's just," she sighed, usual fieriness fizzling. "You get lucky, real lucky, and you rely too much on it."

"You're right," said Ash. "I don't get it. How do I rely too much on luck? We planned this out today and for the most part it worked really well. We had to improvise there at the end, but that's just the way the world works."

Again Misty shook her head. She set her finished pack by the bed and sat on the edge, facing Ash. "It's not just today," she said. "For as long as we've been traveling you've just pulled things out of the blue and they've worked. Things that should go horribly wrong work out perfectly when you're around."

Ash cocked his head off to one side, not unlike a curious Growlithe. Going on Misty took a breath. "Blastoise shouldn't have obeyed you today. It's taken me more than half my life to gain that stubborn Pokémon's obedience, raising him and constantly training him, and you master him in a few minutes of practice."

"We were in a fight," Ash pointed out. "It's not like Blastoise had much of a choice in the matter."

"There's more than that," said Misty. "Blastoise is not a clever Pokémon. He's always been the type to stand and take a hit and then counterattack if he's still conscious. But today he actually used some strategy when you told him to, and moreover, you didn't even have to explain it or train him, he just did what you wanted. And before you interrupt again," she preempted, raising a finger, "it's more than Blastoise. Your Fearow, a Pokémon with a very dominant personality, obeys you without hesitation. And Growlithe, they're by nature loyal to a fault, but they never latch on to someone so quickly. And Pikachu," she went on, "it's like he can read your mind even before **you** know what you're thinking."

Taking a moment to mull her words over, Ash glanced between Misty and the floor to ceiling windows of the Center's corner apartment. The daylight was creeping towards night and Ash was beginning to feel the fatigue of the day catching up with him. "I don't know what to tell you," he said. "Growlithe lost his pack, Fearow got the crap kicked out of her, and Pikachu has been working with me forever. It's obvious you've done a great job training Blastoise, and it's not like either of us are novice trainers…" he paused for a moment. "Is this an argument?" he asked.

Misty sat up a little straighter and looked away from him. The look on his face was just too innocent. She had no idea where it came from and it instantly defused her agitation. Shaking her head she sighed again. "I don't get it. Things just seem to turn out the way you need them to."

Ash grinned and put his hand behind his head. "Well, you won't catch me complaining about that sort of thing. Though let me tell you that not everything is going exactly the way I want it to."

"That's – not what I said at all," said Misty, shrugging as Ash closed his mouth. "I just don't want you to do anything rash. That's all. This little crusade of ours only has two people right now so if one of us ends up dead, that's it."

"No promises," Ash smirked. "But you don't need to worry about that. You'll be safe as long as I'm around."

Misty paused and crossed her legs on the bed, tapping her knees on the mattress. "Well, we've got each other's back then. We should be ready for anything." She tried to smile. "I'm thinking we should turn in now though so we can leave early." Misty turned and looked out the window. "If we leave by seven we should be able to make it halfway to Mt. Moon before dark. We can camp for the night, get up and make it to Mt. Moon by the day after tomorrow. Then we'll need to decide whether we go over or under the mountain and on to Cerulean…" Misty trailed off.

"Cerulean City," said Ash. "I'm actually looking forward to that. I've heard it's a great place." Misty didn't answer. "But before we get there," Ash went on, "there's the mountain to cross."

"Weather permitting," said Misty, getting up and walking to the window to look out, "I'd like to try going over. It would take longer and the slopes would be dangerous, but that beats trying to navigate the tunnels."

Nodding, Ash pulled his pack up to his level on the bed. "We'll just have to see what nature throws at us."

SC

That next morning tested both Ash's and Misty's resolve to simply walk out of the Pokémon Center and back to Brock's gym. The weather had taken a turn for the ghastly, pummeling both trainers with torrential rain and blasting them with what felt like gale-force winds. Coupled with the rain and the wind, the predawn gloom was downright miserable.

"What was that about seeing what nature can throw at us?" asked Misty, once they were inside the gym and could hear again.

Ash shrugged and tried to grin, though his near frozen lips refused to allow for more than one corner of his mouth curling up. "Sorry," he said. "It might help if there was some kind of regional weather announcement service … or something."

"Like that will ever happen," muttered Misty, shivering. The body armor she wore over her less than winter ready outfit did nothing to stave off the cold.

"You two are really going to travel in this?" asked Brock, stepping up the stairs to the landing of the dimly lit gym, making both his visitors twitch. All throughout the building the scream of the storm outside created a constant din in the background. "Exposure isn't a pretty way to go," he added, holding a small manila envelope out to Ash.

Taking the envelope, Ash broke the seal and dumped its contents into his hand. "Time isn't our friend here," said the young trainer, not impolitely. He looked at his palm and saw the small metal badge glimmering back up at him.

Clearing his throat, Brock crossed his arms. "I've made three copies of the letter of recommendation," he said. "One will stay here for my records, one I've already sent off to Indigo Plateau, and here," he produced an unassuming white envelope from the confines of his green vest, "is one for you. That badge, however, is proof that you've earned the support of Pewter City's Gym and I'll-" he sighed quietly, "back you in any action you take against Team Rocket."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot more than what we asked for," he said.

"Yes, well," said Brock. "So is this." He turned around and started walking down the steps. "Let's get you two some heavier clothes so you don't die out there."

Ash and Misty followed him after a wary lance between them. "What brings this on?" asked Ash.

Shrugging Brock lead them back to his office, a comfortable, if small, room with lockers lining two walls and a desk made of oak with a granite surface. "Yesterday, just after you left I received a letter from Indigo Plateau. It was a missive Lance himself had sent out to a select few Gym Leaders in the frontier telling us to be on the lookout for 'highly organized raiders and bandits.' Towards the end of the letter he mentioned that the Mt. Moon tunnels seemed to have become especially dangerous in the past weeks."

"Well, we'd definitely appreciate any help you could offer," said Ash as Brock pulled out two heavy cloaks with a texture like snow mixed with charcoal. The gym leader handed Ash and Misty the cloaks, then went to another locker and produced two sets of padded clothes and handed them those also.

"There's also the small matter of Team Rocket," Brock glanced around at Misty directly, then looked back at Ash. "A month ago, Kasumi, the current head of Cerulean Gym sent a letter to the Elite Four informing them that a community organizing group known as Team Rocket had set up a mining operation outside of Cerulean Cave without the town's permission. She also said that people had started to go missing as soon as Team Rocket was in place. The Elite Four sent her letter on to me and I dispatched two trainers to help Kasumi look into it."

"Why are you telling us this?" asked Ash, not missing that Misty was strangely silent.

Brock's face hardened. "Too many coincidences," he said. "Team Rocket shows up outside Cerulean Cave at the same time that people from Cerulean start to disappear at the same time that a food shortage hits the Viridian area. To top that off, now the Elite Four is sending out letters to only a few of the gyms warning about bandits, and now I have two people show up at my gym wanting my help to investigate Team Rocket." He grinned just a little. "I see no reason not to give you two all the help you need."

Ash smiled and inclined his head some. "Thanks very much," he said. "So you're leery of Team Rocket too?"

Brock nodded and his eyes darted between Misty and Ash. "Very much so," he said. "But right now I can't do much too even investigate."

"You can leave that to us," said Ash, giving Brock a small thumbs up. "We'll figure out what's going on and we'll put a stop to it."

"I hope you're up to it," said Brock.

SC

"Remind me again," Ash shouted over the wind, holding his arm in front of his face for protection from the rain, "how we go from sunshine and clear skies to this!"

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu had spent the better part of the morning traversing less than five miles. When they weren't fighting the headwind and the tall grass of Route 3, which slapped against them like the waves of a stormy ocean, they were ducking for cover as a lightning bolt struck nearby trees and threatened to reduce the struggling party to cinders.

Misty could barely hear him over the roaring wind, but shouted back that the weather between Mt. Moon and Pewter had always been unpredictable.

"Ya' think?!" Ash shouted back as Pikachu, clinging to the top of the trainer's head, did everything in his power to scout the surrounding terrain. "At least this storm should keep any bandits huddled for cover," Ash said. "Only an idiot would try to travel in this after all." He glanced over at Misty and grinned. She smiled back just a little and shook her head.

By noon the trainers had travelled far enough that Pewter that any sign of civilization had disappeared into the wall of water that surrounded them like a curtain, and by four in the afternoon Ash, stopping to take a look at the map Brock had given them, guessed that they were only a few hours behind their projected plans. When they stopped for a brief dinner under the shelter of an outcropping of rock jutting up out of the grass, the storm had shifted, replacing the western wind with a freezing northern one that brought with it freezing rain and even hail.

Sitting against the rock which formed something of a one walled shelter with a partial roof, Ash finished off a seed cake. "Are you sure you want to try and scale Mt. Moon in this?" he asked, turning to Misty.

Looking out over what she could see of the grassland, Misty nodded. "Freak storms aren't unusual for this part of the region," she answered. "With any luck this will have let up by the time we get to the mountain."

"If you say so," said Ash.

"Mt. Moon," Misty said, almost too quietly to be heard over the gale, "is not a forgiving place. To get through we'd have to have to navigate the tunnels and we might get lost and wander into the deep roads. There would be no coming back from that."

Ash nodded. "I gotcha," he said.

The party traveled until the last vestiges of sunlight were vanishing, at which point, having no natural shelter to speak of, Ash and Misty dug a small burrow which they lined and covered with one of Brock's spare cloaks. It was wet, tedious, and extremity-numbing work that took nearly an hour, but the result was a relatively dry bed that was nominally sheltered from the wind and flying bits of brush and sharp grass.

Sleep never truly came. Even wrapped up and huddled together, the constant dripping of cold water and the buffeting of their makeshift tent flapping in the wind ensured that neither trainer could do much more than doze. Even Pikachu made no effort to get out to keep watch and the trainers passed most of the first part of the night making small talk or refining their plans for a course of action in Cerulean. Once the night rolled over into the early morning however, and neither Ash nor Misty had the spirits to talk they drifted into silence.

Water by this time had seeped into the shelter in a great enough quantity to create little puddles around the cuddled trainers' ankles, waists, and shoulders, though there was little anyone could do to alleviate the conditions. Sunrise brought with it little reprieve, save the faint glow that pushed back the night's blindness. Having had no sleep, Ash and Misty sat got up begrudgingly without a word and packed up their meager shelter before moving on.

They travelled all the next day without stopping, as progress was slow enough that to stop at all would likely rob them of the rest of the day's journey. They ate as they walked, ignoring or coping with the numbness that had long since settled into their feet and hands and faces. Ash could hear the squishing of water in the bottoms of his boots, and the prickling sensations running through where he guessed his toes to be began to inflame his paranoia about trench foot setting in.

Luck just wasn't with the party. That night there was no suitable shelter to be found and again Ash and Misty were forced to break out miniature shovels and dig themselves a burrow. The ground though had nearly reached the point of saturation and both trainers found themselves, again, unable to sleep for the water which leaked in from all sides of the improvised shelter. Spending the entire night shivering and trying to still chattering teeth, neither Ash nor Misty exchanged a word, but silently thanked whatever powers that were for the other's presence.

Moderate relief arrived the next morning in the form of abating winds. The cold rain and tiny flecks of sleet still fell generously, but they were not driven by the blistering gales. By two in the afternoon of their third day out from Pewter, Ash and Misty could see the silhouette of a tall range of mountains cutting across the terrain in the distance. Mt. Moon was less of a single mountain, and more of a series of peaks that ran from the northwest to the southeast that bore no permanent passes or roads. "Mount Moon" was the name given to the largest and, paradoxically, most navigable peak that separated Route 3 from Route 4.

All around the base of the mountain were boulders the size of buildings, many of which bore caves and crevices more than large enough for the party to settle into. Ash and Misty selected one such natural cave that afforded them three walls and a roof and hurried in. As Ash struggled to get a small fire going, Misty dropped against the wall nearest the entrance and tried to keep watch with Pikachu. Not speaking, she petted the Pokémon behind the ears and slumped on the stone.

As a fire crackled to life, Ash sat before the flames and pulled off one boot as Misty got up and walked to sit next to him. Three days of waterlogged conditions had not been kind to Ash's feet, and his socks had been reduced to a semi-solid layer of stringy plaster between his toes and the boot.

"At least there's no frostbite," said Misty, pulling off her own boots and dumping out the water therein as Ash stretched out a little by the fire. "We could be a lot worse off."

"We could," Ash said sourly. As his feet warmed and the burning tickle of feeling returned he almost wished he could stay numb. "This sucks…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "We're not going to have any dry clothes, our boots are soaked, it's freezing, and we've still got a mountain to cross."

"Quit," Misty began to bark. She stopped herself, seeing the nearly defeated grimace on her partner's face. Even Viridian wasn't nearly this bad, she thought. "It will get better," she said as comfortingly as she could. Without thinking she put her hand over Ash's and gave his fingers a squeeze, smiling. "You and Professor Oak must have gone through worse than this."

Ash exhaled and looked up at the ceiling as Misty realized she'd taken his hand without thinking. She didn't mind though and Ash made no move to let go. "Not really," he said. "Most of the dangers Grandpa and I faced were wild Pokémon. Battling the elements is completely different."

"Yeah," said Misty looking down at the fire. "But, once we get to the other side, we can rest up in Cerulean."

Ash's face brightened a little and he sighed. "That'll be nice," he said, glancing over at her and squeezing her hand. "Maybe we should take the rest of the day off," he said, changing gears and looking over at the pile of dripping supplies, tossed up against one corner.

"We can dry out our things, get some of our strength back, and then tackle Mt. Moon tomorrow. Maybe the storm will have broken by then."

"It would be better to avoid as much night time on the mountain as possible," Misty agreed, nodding. She got up and brought their packs closer to the fire and immediately began laying out the contents in a semi-circle around the flames. "That sounds like a plan."

The party spent the rest of the afternoon making every effort to prepare for their journey the next day. Ash went outside and collected several fallen branches from the surrounding trees, and drying them by the fire. He then went on to add to the fire with the semi-dry wood, while Misty set out and rotated supplies, clothes, and food, attempting to dry everything as much as possible. Pikachu either napped by the fire or wandered from one end of the small cave to the other, looking for anything to hold its interest.

As the sun went down, Ash and Misty had dinner, eating a little more than a single meal's worth of rations. More than once Ash had tried to open Growlithe's pokeball, but each time, the Pokémon remained inside and the ball remained tightly closed. Misty reminded Ash that, depending on the Pokémon, natural evolution could be as quick as a few days, or take as long as a few weeks.

SC

The next morning, Ash woke first and realized that during the night, he and Misty had somehow migrated closer together. Despite having gone to sleep with several feet between them, as the early morning sunlight brought Ash back to consciousness, he carefully pulled his arm away from Misty and got up. He walked to the entrance of the cave, stretching and yawning. Choosing to sleep in body armor, he noted, was becoming as natural to him as sleeping at all. As was, it occurred to him, waking up next to Misty.

"Well look at that," he grinned, looking out of the cave and over the top of the sea of grass. During the night the weather had changed dramatically once again. The winter like storms of the previous few days had given way to cloudless skies and a crisp atmosphere. The ice and sleet had since melted and left all the world that Ash could see glimmering and clean.

Waking up a moment later, Misty got to her feet and stepped up behind Ash. "Wow," she said, looking out of the cave and to the north where Mt. Moon jutted up into the sky. "That's gorgeous." The early morning sunlight reflecting off the peaks of the mountain range glittered and made the edifices stand out like diamonds against the sky. The mist of a waterfall, beginning about a tenth of the way up the mountain, filled a basin with glimmering stars. "Shall we?"

Ash smiled, refreshed from a good night's sleep, and nodded.

Finishing their packing by eight and setting off immediately thereafter, the party set off for the base of the greatest peak of the range. Ash, having estimated they'd reach the first climbs of the mountain by nine, had missed his guess by a full hour. The mountain was so large that it had thrown all the surrounding terrain out of proportion. It wasn't until ten that the trainers and Pikachu began ascending the slopes of the mountain, finding a worn but discernable path up the face.

Chatting nonchalantly and joking, Ash and Misty passed the next several hours without complaint. The climbs were shallow at the beginning, making for easy hiking and along the way, Ash spotted several small Pokémon cautiously observing them from the bushes. Rattata and Pidgey glanced outside from their nests and let the trainers pass unhindered. Ash debated catching one or two, but elected to save supplies and energy for bigger targets. There will always be littler ones, he told himself.

It wasn't until four in the afternoon, after the party had stopped for lunch and since resumed their hike, that the terrain began to work against them. The path narrowed and the cliff faces on either side closed in, becoming sheer walls around the disappearing path. Locking out all but scattered sunlight, the path eventually vanished into a maze of thin tunnels in the rock that were all open to the sky above.

Keeping their sense of direction, Ash and Misty were forced on more than one occasion to walk in single file. I guess these are the capillaries of the mountain," Ash joked once after he and Misty had been walking silence for half an hour.

_This would be the perfect place for an ambush_, Ash fretted, unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched. Nevertheless, the only dangers the party encountered were the loose patches of rock, destabilized by the previous days' rain no doubt, that made for treacherous footing.

By seven, just in time to escape the blackness that was encasing the thin passages, Ash and Misty exited out onto a ledge running along one side of a massive crack in the mountain that opened up to the orange sky above and the setting sun to the west. Far below the trainers, more than a hundred feet down by the looks of it, a roaring river crashed among the rocks at the bottom of the ravine. It flowed down from the west, disappearing around bends in the east, and broke into several smaller but equally fast rivers that flowed off down branch ravines. The main body of the water however, spilled out over the sheer drop in the west.

"That must be the waterfall we saw earlier," said Ash.

Misty agreed. "I guess we've made better time than we guessed," she answered. "We must be three or four hundred feet higher than ground level by now," she said. "If we keep following this path east," she pointed to the narrow ledge winding along the cliff face, "I'll bet it will bring us to a pass that we can take north since all of the snowpack feeding the river should be on the peaks to the north."

"Reasonable," said Ash. "Lead on."

Misty, Pikachu atop her head now, took point and lead the way up the narrowing path, following the stone wall on her right. The slim footing and increasing incline began to play on Ash's nerves. More than once he caught himself poised to lash out and catch Misty should she slip and fall over the edge. As the party neared a bend in the ledge, following the river, the path narrowed to less than two feet wide at points.

_I don't like this_, thought Ash. _Maybe we should turn back_…

Rounding the bend, both trainers could see that the path continued on, level, while the river sloped upwards and closed the gap between itself and the ledge to maybe a dozen meters at the closest point. Light was beginning to fade and cool night winds were beginning to pick up. A gruesome choice now awaited the party… did they camp here on the ledge, risking the obvious dangers, or did they press on and brave the oncoming night in hopes of a safer shelter?

"I think we need to press on for as long as we can," said Ash. "That or we should turn back and look for another way."

"No," Misty responded. "We need to keep following the river. It's our best shot at a clear path. We need to keep going forward."

"I don't know," said Ash, looking over the edge at the darkening, rushing water. "We're walking into a bad situation."

"We'll be alright," said the girl. "This is still safer than trying to go under the mountain."

Ash couldn't argue that point, and so they kept moving. By the time the last glimpse of the sun was disappearing, Ash and Misty came to another bend in the ledge that took them to an even more narrow stretch of path that dipped and twisted off around to the north, ending in a stone face beside a small waterfall. "There," said Misty, pointing to the falls. Both she and Ash could make out that just over the short climb next to the hazy waterfall was a much wider path that seemed to run along a basin serving as the river's source. "That's where we need to go."

Ash sighed and tried to steel himself. Pikachu elected to glow, giving off light comparable to a lantern to ease the party's passage. More than once on the half-hour trek, one or both of the trainers slipped on the wet, loose stone, but managed to keep their balance. As they neared the little cliff face they had to climb, the ledge beneath Ash's left foot gave and he went down on one knee as his left foot seemed to tear a hole straight through the path. Misty whirled around and grabbed his hand to steady him, and Ash could look down and watch as the stone's his foot had sheered loosed seemed to hover in the air for a moment before splashing into the water below.

"Ash," Misty gasped. "You alright?"

"This is such a bad idea," he answered, looking at the face beside the waterfall a few meters ahead, looking over his shoulder. Already the path behind them was all but invisible. As soon as the sun went down, the party's line of sight was reduced to a few feet beyond Pikachu's glow. "The sudden freeze and thaw must have weakened the rock… but I guess it's too late to turn back."

Misty bit her lip. "You were probably right," she admitted.

"No point in worrying about it now," said Ash, squeezing past her and planting his back against the wall adjacent to the falls. From here the path was narrow enough and the falls close enough that Ash could have reached out and submerged his hand in the cascade of water. "If I give you a boost, you should be able to reach up and pull yourself up to the ledge," he said, cupping his hands.

Misty sized up the climb for a moment, then walked forward and put on hand on Ash's shoulder and one foot into his hands. "I'll give you a hand once I'm up," she answered.

"One, two," said Ash as both trainers readied themselves. "Three."

With a grunt and a shove, Ash lifted Misty over his head as quickly and smoothly as he could. He heard her hands slap against the rocky ledge above at the same instant he heard the ledge under his feet groan and crack. "Oh shit!" he gasped, turning and grabbing onto the stone face with one hand. With the other he pressed his palm against the sole of Misty's shoe and shoved again, giving her just the boost she needed to swing that leg up over the edge and grab a firm hold.

"Ash!" She yelled, turning to look. From the glow radiating out from a furiously chittering Pikachu, Misty could see the ledge beneath Ash breaking apart like saturated sandstone. Ash shouted in fear as the ground beneath his feet disintegrated and both legs were swept out from under him in a sudden flow of rock and slushy grime. On all fours, leaning over the edge to pointlessly reach out with one hand, Misty felt the ground beneath her hand begin to give and slide. She and Pikachu propelled themselves back reflexively away from the slide and shuffled back as a five foot section of the ledge crumbled and slid over the edge.

"Ash!" Misty screamed again, moving to the new ledge as soon as she regained her balance. "Ash!" her voice echoed off the walls of the black ravine, shrieking desperation evident. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw that the path running above the river had vanished for as far as she could see, leaving nothing but a sheer cliff. Ash was nowhere to be seen.

SC

Rushing, freezing, pounding water slammed into Ash from every angle, splashing in his face, throwing him end over end and making even a small breath impossible. He could feel himself being propelled as breakneck speeds along the river, or under it as the case may have been. He was tumbling, slamming into rocks in his path, running up against the walls of the ravine as the water threw him along. Every attempt at breath seemed to bring just as much water as air into his lungs and he could feel his head becoming light even in the stark terror.

He tried to no avail to reach out for something, anything to grab onto. He felt a searing pain tear into his shoulder as he smashed against a jagged protrusion, then nothing. Suddenly he was weightless and floating. Falling, he realized as the water around him seemed to vaporize, carrying him with it over the edge of a waterfall.

SC

"No, no, no, no, no," Misty choked, tears rolling down her face unchecked. She still stared over the edge of the chasm, bent over on all fours and scanning the ravine for any signs of Ash. She dropped her forehead to the ground. "Stupid, why didn't I say to go back? Goddamn stupid, stupid."

Pikachu squeaked and chittered frantically, pacing along the edge of the plateau. His cheeks glowed brightly, throwing off just enough light to illuminate the surface of the water below, but nothing else. Misty hunkered there for more than an hour, watching wherever Pikachu lit up, hoping desperately, praying even, that she'd see some human figure clinging to a rock. Useless. Minutes rolled into hours and before she realized it, Misty's grip had failed her and she slapped to the ground, striking her chin on the mushy layer of grime covering the rocks. She didn't bother to get up or move. She could see Pikachu's faint glow out of the corner of her eye, still sitting on the edge and looking for Ash, and she cried, cried until she fell asleep on the cold rocks.

After a long time, the sky turned a shade of burnt orange and the faint outlines of the peaks lining the ravine appeared against that backdrop. Misty slowly regained consciousness, though she didn't open her eyes until later. It was too cold to move yet, she thought. At some point during the night, Pikachu had given up pacing on the ledge and begun instead pacing between Misty and the ledge. Misty sat up as the sky began to turn blue, and looked around to take  
in her surroundings. Methodically she noted every feature of the terrain. Her eyes were glassy and cold as she turned to Pikachu.

"We need to keep going," she said, voice quiet and unwavering. The little Pokémon turned around and looked at Misty, twitching uncomfortably once as though he'd been confronted by a total stranger, before walking forward and waiting for her to act, though he made no move to get within grabbing distance of the trainer.

The plateau on which Misty and Pikachu found themselves was one half of a shore surrounding an enormous basin of water high on the mountain. This basin was fed by what looked like dozens of small rivers running out of caves in the surrounding cliffs, some of which tumbled in magnificent falls, or simply flowed calmly out of openings in the rock. Misty reached around her back, instantly making Pikachu take a step to the side. She didn't watch the Pokémon, but instead took one of the pokeballs from her belt and tossed it over the snapped out of the ball which returned to Misty's hand.

"We need to move north," said Misty in more of a sigh than a declaration. Starmie understood the command and spun around on its back atop the  
water once or twice, before turning upright and floating over to Misty. Pikachu assumed that the trainer and Starmie had their bearings and followed cautiously as the truncated party took off. Misty followed Starmie as the Pokémon led her around the basin, knowing that Starmie's innate sense of direction was never wrong.

Stopping in front of a cave, from which a flow of water the size of a creek originated, Starmie turned to Misty and hovered above the ground. "You're sure this is true north?" Misty asked, looking into the cave. The morning light illuminated only enough that Misty could see a narrow shore winding beside the small creek. Starmie didn't move, the Pokémon was sure of its senses.

"Pikachu," said Misty, turning to the little Pokémon, who didn't back away this time as she spoke. "You need to resist the temptation to light things up down there. Even if it gets pitch black we need to disturb as little as possible. I don't need to warn you about the Zubat?"

Pikachu chittered an acknowledgement, then jumped up into Misty's offered hand, uncomfortable though he was.

"Good," said the trainer. "Let's go."

Misty held Pikachu close against her chest, and took hold of one of Starmie's many arms. The party had walked less than a minute in the cave before nearly all light vanished, and the winding tunnel, leading steeply upwards, then down, then up again, blotted out all light. Soon the only light she could see at all, was the faintest red glow emitted by Starmie's red orb which the Pokémon used to sense its surroundings underwater and in complete darkness.

Steeling herself against claustrophobia as her foot struck water in the black, Misty swallowed hard. She distracted herself as Starmie led on, by pondering a number of different things, none of which were even remotely related to her lost companion, and all of which were notably boring. _Pikachu is probably hoping_, thought Misty, _that if we explorelong enough we'll find-_ she pushed away the thought as instinctively as one would bat away a troublesome fly, and continued on.

After an hour's walk, Misty had waded into water that was up to her waist, and Starmie stopped. Without asking a verbal question, Misty reached out in front of Starmie, blindly, and touched a solid wall almost immediately. Reaching out to either side, all she felt was empty air. Starmie hovered for a moment, indecisive, and shifting from left to right every few moments.

Starmie turned around, and began leading Misty back, leaving Misty to guess that they'd reached a dead end. When the water began to deepen however, and Starmie began to make subtle twists and turns, it quickly became apparent that the cave was branching off into a network of tunnels. Another hour passed and the water was up to Misty's elbows, leaving Pikachu to sit atop her head. One more time Starmie stopped and Misty reached out, brushing walls in front of, and on either side of her. She felt ahead with one foot and noticed that the water suddenly deepened only a step ahead of her.

A tunnel? Misty guessed. An underwater tunnel? "No way," she said in a hushed whisper. "Not until we know how far to the other side."

Starmie dropped below the water level without hesitation, leaving Misty alone in total darkness. She waited for several seconds, not sure whether or not Starmie would be able to grasp the concept of a human having to hold its breath underwater. Before she had enough time to fret though, Starmie returned, slipping up and out of the water, announced only by a quiet 'plip' that made the trainer jump.

"Well?" she asked.

Starmie made no move to turn or lead her back, so Misty could only assume that the Pokémon had found another tunnel on the other side of this one.

"You're absolutely certain?" she pressed, the hair bristling on the back of her neck. Again, Starmie made no move to leave. "Great," the trainer muttered, wrapping her arms around the Pokémon and whispering to Pikachu to relax and take a deep breath.

SC

The first sound was a dull, thudding pulse, very rhythmic and steady, if quiet. It was somehow comforting, and warm, though why was unclear. Over the course of a long time, listening to the pulse began to wake something up, and realization slowly dawned on Ash, that he was aware of himself, if nothing else. He was alive, he realized, the pulsing was his heart pushing blood through his body. He could feel nothing else though. The world to him was blackness and a uniform numbness though something, he wasn't sure what, made him want to push through and feel something, anything.

He remembered something, a single thought, a memory that he couldn't make out, but strained to recall. As he floated in between waking and unconsciousness, he pushed harder and harder to remember the thought but it kept eluding him. Pursuing the memory brought with it a pain that came on very suddenly and smacked down on his mind from every angle, but he pushed harder and tortured his will to remember. An image of someone, Misty he thought, holding Pikachu, both wrapped in a warm wreathe of sunlight. But where had he seen that? _Ah_, he realized, consciousness coming on more fully now, accompanied by the realization that he ached and hurt all over. _Viridian, right after we got out of the forest_.

Light made Ash squint, and he slowly opened his eyes to a clear blue sky overhead, though he instantly closed them again, squinting in pain. His whole body was screaming murder. His back hurt most of all, and the backs of his arms, laying out on either side of him, palms up to the sky. He groaned, almost wishing he hadn't come back from the brink, and then something cold, freezing and wet, but soft, shoved itself in his face.

"Ow, ow, ow," he groaned. "What?" He opened one eye to see the large, orange head pull away to get a better look at him. Two eyes with liquid amber irises, seemingly glowing with an inner light, stared down at him and hot panting breath washed over his face. "Who?" he asked, opening the other eye and looking over the big, huge even, orange frame, "Growlithe?"

The canine barked once, a regal and full sound, then whined, sitting up to his full height and seemingly towering over Ash. A thick crème mane wrapped around the Pokémon's head and hung down to its front paws while a huge tail the same color billowed out behind him like a white flame. _Not Growlithe_, thought Ash, _Arcanine… how_…?

Arcanine pawed at the ground and stood up again, looking more fantastic than real, and walked in a circle around Ash, whining very quietly before laying down and curling around Ash. Ash lay there for what felt like hours and hours, gradually regaining some control of his arms and legs. He flexed his fingers and balled them into a fist though it pained him to do so. Instantly Arcanine was up on his feet and alert, giving Ash his utmost attention. Several minutes later, Ash groaned and rolled onto his side. He had no illusions of standing, though Arcanine understood. The big Pokémon knelt down beside Ash and put one shoulder on the ground. Straining, arms threatening to give out, Ash reached over Arcanine's back and  
grabbed hold of the fur with one hand. Simultaneously he lifted one leg over Arcanine's flank.

When he was sure Ash had as good a grip as possible, Arcanine stood up, lifting Ash off the ground. Ash took a moment and steadied his grip, dropping his pounding forehead against the back of Arcanine's neck and screwing his eyes closed. It was going to take all the strength he could muster just to hold on. Ash gripped the fur of his Pokémon's shoulder as tightly as he could as Arcanine took a single step, testing his master's hold. Ash remained steady, and so Arcanine began to walk, slowly.

Ash kept his eyes closed and tried to ignore the aching, screaming pain that crushed down on him like an ocean of scalding water. Instead he focused on the thudding heartbeat of the Pokémon beneath him, listening and feeling the unearthly warmth. As Arcanine carried the trainer, Ash began to wonder if it was true that an Arcanine had an internal fire.

As the minutes crept by, and Arcanine slowly bore his master, Ash opened his eyes and turned his head to look out at the world. The light stung his eyes, but he was determined to at least get a feel for what was going on. He saw a large river, presumably up in the mountains, and a shore of grey sand and rock. For the first time, now that he was focusing, he heard the sound of a waterfall and guessed it was the one he had fallen from. Turning his head when he felt stronger, he looked back to get a glimpse of the falls.

_Wow_, he thought, seeing how far the water had to fall before it crashed to the river below. _The falls must have been more than two hundred feet tall_, he thought, turning his head and again resting iton Arcanine's shoulder. _There is no way I should be alive_… he reflected. The impact with the water below should have turned him to mush, he should have drowned, and rescue should have been impossibly far away. And how did Arcanine get out of his pokeball? For that matter how did he evolve so fast? Ash pushed the questions out of his head when they began to give him a headache. _Maybe I'll figure it out later, he thought_. For now though, Ash was simply thankful to whatever providence had saved him.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Hey all, well I'm glad to see that most everyone who reviews is liking the story thus far. Most of the feedback has been positive, though if anyone has something to say that isn't so positive, by all means, I'm open to it. All perspective holds value of one kind or another.

Oh, and to one reviewer in particular, you make a good point. Team Rocket in the anime/manga is overplayed and detracts from the story in more ways that it contributes. However, they, both in canon and in my interpretation, fill the necessary role of the antagonist. A story of Ash battling the elements and gym leaders would be all fine and good, but it would lack that element of dread that can be brought to a story only by an intelligent and malicious enemy, or such is my thought.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Eight – Islands Unto Themselves

Misty came up from the long dive coughing and sputtering, sucking in a huge breath of air as soon as she could breathe. Pikachu seemed likewise relieved though, being that he could acquire all the oxygen he required using mouthful of water and electrolysis, the four minute underwater jaunt hadn't bothered him too greatly.

"God, Starmie," Misty sighed, taking another deep breath. "Are you trying to kill us?" Misty took a moment to collect herself. _I'm out of practice_, she thought. _That's all. _"Wait…" It took Misty a moment to realize that she could see, quite easily in fact. Towards the end of the dive she'd closed her eyes in struggle, and it was only now that she realized that there was literately a light at the end of the tunnel.

She looked around to get her bearings, seeing that she was in a small pool of water at the end of a tunnel just big enough for a single person to stand in. She crawled out of the water, shook out her hair, and returned Starmie to its pokeball. Pikachu shook so quick as to vibrate, drying out its fur in an instant, and walked carefully behind Misty as the trainer made her way down the little, one-way tunnel towards the end. As she neared the exit the low din she'd begun to hear in the background grew steadily louder, and the air filled with a smell not unlike hot iron or copper.

Hearing human voices and something much louder and squealing, Misty slowed and peeked through the small door at the end of the tunnel and for a long moment she stared, trying to discern exactly what it was she saw. There was a very large cavern beyond the door, so large that a dome at the top of the enormous room opened to the clear sky. The center of the room was occupied by a black pit some twenty feet across. All around the pit were metal tables and conveyer belts hooked up to portable generators, and in front of the tables were people, most in black uniforms with a large assortment of knives and sharp utensils hanging from their red-smeared aprons.

It was the large red masses lying on the tables that caught Misty's attention first, and then it was the cages lined up in rows behind the tables and conveyors. "Team Rocket?" she breathed, keen eyes catching the red insignia embroidered on the left breast of each uniform. Upon that realization, and on seeing the animals penned in the cages, she quickly processed exactly what was going on. In the cages behind the tables were all manner of semi-docile Pokémon: Paras, and Clefairy mainly.

One of the fifty or so Rocket Members would attach a cable from one of the generators to the nodes on a cage, quickly electrocuting and killing whatever resided in the cage and filling the air with the near constant shrieks that Misty had heard before. The Rocket Member then would, if there were Clefairy in the cage, haul the cadaver to a conveyer belt which dumped the body into the pit. If a cage housed Paras, the grunts would bring the carcasses to the men at the tables who would quickly strip the mushrooms from the Pokémon's back and deposit them in a bin beside the tables. They left the bare bodies in great piles on the tables for some later purpose.

Ducking back behind the door, Misty fought to keep her meager lunch in her stomach. The sight combined with the smell, combined with the crunching and cutting and screaming sounds made for an almost unbearable scene. She looked back around when she heard a heavy diesel engine rumbling, and saw a flatbed truck coming into the cavern from one of the many large exits. On the back of the truck were several wooden boxes filled with grey and blue-black masses.

Misty watched in shock as the truck pulled up to one of the conveyers and grunts, climbing up onto the flatbed, began heaving the boxes down, throwing dozens of dead Zubat per box onto the conveyer, then setting the boxes in a neat pile behind the truck. The wholesale slaughter boggled the trainer's mind. When she noticed the Rocket Trainers posted at each exit, each accompanied by a guard Pokémon, she could only imagine the resources Rocket was dumping into this twisted operation.

_And to what end?_ she asked herself.

Pikachu's horror was evident. The little rodent stood frozen halfway behind Misty's leg and watched as Team Rocket carried out their bloody business with ruthless efficiency.

"Who woulda' thought," Misty overheard from one of the grunts at the nearest table, "that those overgrown bug-zappers the boss built would be so good at killing Zubat?"

Over the screams and grindings and engines, Misty couldn't hear what the man's partner said, but she had seen quite enough. "We can look for Ash once this is taken care of…" She plucked two pokeballs from her belt and, stepping around the corner, tossed them out. Pikachu stepped with her, coming into the open just as Blastoise and Starmie sprang into existence from bright flashes of light.

_You bastards are going to pay for everything you did to me_, Misty thought as she glanced around, making absolutely sure she hadn't missed something. "If it moves, kill it," she said.

Most of the Rocket grunts hadn't even seen the flashes of the Pokémon, despite the dim room and the bloody light. Anyone who missed it earlier instantly realized they were under attack when Pikachu's thunderbolt reduced a grunt to a blackened husk in a heartbeat with a deafening bang.

Acting before the guards even realized what was going on, Pikachu let loose with a chain lightning attack that leapt from one person to the next, felling, if not outright killing four of the Rocket grunts, while Blastoise targeted one of the quicker guards and dropped both her and her small Geodude with a single shot. After the initial slaughter, most of the Rocket grunts, those actually doing the slaughter, broke and fled, making for the caves while the guards struggled to reorganize.

"Double-Edge," ordered Misty. Starmie, who had been hanging back, spun into the air like a firework, edged arms glittering in the light. As Misty released both of her Staryu, Starmie rocketed down, buzzing like a top, and whipped passed three of the Rocket grunts. In quick succession two heads dropped from shoulders and the bodies fell like  
withered inner tubes.

When the guards arrived in earnest, outnumbering Misty's force more than five to one, the young trainer ordered her Blastoise to stay on the offensive, while drawing back Starmie and both Staryu to protect her against attack. Blastoise squared off against a Graveler and a Ryhorn, with a Geodude moving to flank him, watching carefully for either an opening or an order from Misty.

"Body Slam!" Misty barked, raising one hand in front of her face as her Starmie and a Rocket's Staryu smashed into each other a meter from her head. She heard the Rocket Guard who'd ordered the unsuccessful attack curse as the two Pokémon began dueling overhead, Starmie struggling for a height advantage.

Hearing his owner's order, Blastoise charged forward and slammed his frame against the Ryhorn, trying to both smash it to the ground and club it with his elbow. The Graveler and Geodude took the opportunity to move in from the sides and try to grapple Blastoise. "Blastoise, go for its eyes!" Misty shouted. The heavy turtle of a Pokémon grabbed hold of either side of Ryhorn's skull, digging its simple clawed fingers into the Pokémon's vulnerable eyes, and jerked fiercely to one side. Ryhorn's neck wrenched with the motion, and the Pokémon's form went limp.

Determined by their master's shouts of punishment, the Geodude and Graveler strained themselves, overcoming Blastoise's bulk and toppling him to the ground.  
"Starmie!" Misty yelled not a second after her Pokémon had finished off the Rocket's overmatched Staryu. "Help him out!" She pointed to Blastoise as Graveler landed a solid blow across the Pokémon's skull. Starmie spun down out of the air, smashing across the Geodude's back and knocking the dazed Pokémon away from Blastoise. Misty winced though, seeing the attack's recoil had cracked Starmie's protective exoskeleton. That gave Blastoise just enough of a window to grab hold of Graveler's upper arms and begin trying to wrestle himself free.

Pikachu was busy with one of the guards who had unleashed three purple Nidoran. The agile rabbit-like Pokémon were just quick enough that the three of them together could keep Pikachu busy, that was until Blastoise, who had since smashed the Graveler to pebbles, rumbled to the aid and bit one of the Nidoran cleanly in two, while stomping the second with his clubbish foot. Pikachu dispatched the third with a lightning attack, then went after the grunts who had not yet fled into the tunnels.

"Hmph," mumbled Misty as she saw the guards scattering. "That's right, run, right into the Deep Roads, you pricks. See if you like it as much as I did!"

A deep rumbling caught Misty's attention, and that of Blastoise and Pikachu. From one of the larger tunnels there was a white flash, and a mammoth shadow strode out into the rusty light. "What the hell"? Misty stammered. The creature looked like nothing so much as a Rydon, though it was much, much larger, nearly fifteen feet in height, and instead of a bone horn, protruding from its skull was a massive metal drill-bit that ended in a forked spike. The monster's face was more of a grotesque helmet than a skull, and its grey hide shimmered, the light scattering off of the heavy plates grafted to its form.

Beside the new Pokémon, though Misty wondered if this was truly a natural creation, was what she guessed to be a Machamp, though this Pokémon also was horrifyingly aberrant. The Machamp's skin was thick and cracked, the color of dried blood, and each of its four arms ended in some sharp metal cutting tool, the hands amputated. One eye had been sewn shut and the other replaced with something like a small, spherical video camera. The jaw looked broken and the mouth hung open, exposing rotted yellow teeth, but even these had been filed to horrible points.

The mere sight of the new arrivals gave Misty pause, though not so much as to miss the figure behind them. She caught a glance of the tall figure in a trench coat and fedora hat step off into the shadows before the grotesque Pokémon charged forward. Blastoise immediately stepped in front of Misty and answered the Rydon's charge with a blast from its water cannon. The jet knocked the aberration's leg out from underneath its form and the Rydon toppled forward, catching itself.

The twisted Machamp ran up the Rydon's spined back, taking a leaping jump into the air and coming down on Blastoise before the large Pokémon could move. Wickedly sharp knives mounted on the stumpy wrists of the Pokémon's upper arms ground into Blastoise shell, sticking fast and drawing blood. Misty gasped as the Machamp swung its lower arms, one armed with a huge spike, for the killing blow. A tan form buzzed in front of the attack and deflected the spike and the second lower arm. One Staryu had saved Blastoise, and the other hovered protectively in front of Misty. The Machamp jerked its weapons from Blastoise shell just before another jet of water blasted the red Pokémon back beside the Rydon who was just getting up to its feet.

"Staryu, Starmie," said Misty, "take out that Machamp. Blastoise, you and Pikachu handle the…" she wasn't sure what to call it, "Rydon." By now the large room had emptied out and Pikachu had returned from finishing off most of the Rocket grunts.

Rydon's horn spun in place as the unnatural Pokémon charged forward, straight at Blastoise. The blue Pokémon again tried to knock out Rydon's leg, but moved too slowly and had to roll to one side as Rydon barreled by, catching Blastoise flank with its drill bit horn. Pikachu unleashed a sizzling lightning attack that broke and scattered into little tendrils of light across the Pokémon's back. The Rydon pivoted and redirected itself on Pikachu without so much as a flinch.

Zipping through the air like maddened hornets, Starmie and Staryu made fly-by attacks at the twisted Machamp, trying to catch it with a Double-Edge while avoiding the sharp claws, hooks, and knives mounted to its arms. A second camera-eye, identical to the first and mounted in the back of the Machamp's head made flanking it impossible however, and the two Pokémon's attacks were little more than distractions.

Rydon stomped the ground, throwing everyone in the room off balance with the tremendous reverberations it sent through the ground. The shaking allowed the unaffected Starmie to catch Machamp across the shoulder, making a solid blow that splashed the ground with blood. It also however, threw nearby Pikachu a full foot into the air, unable to react. Rydon took the split second advantage and charged forward, and smashed Pikachu into the ground with its heavy tail, leaving the yellow Pokémon motionless in the trench left behind.

Taking advantage of the Rydon's exposed flank, Blastoise barreled in and simultaneously blasted it with its water cannon, ripping away a thin layer of the tough skin covering the Pokémon's shoulder. The attack drew a surprising amount of blood. Raging in pain, Rydon reeled around and grabbed hold of Blastoise by either end of the Pokémon's shell and heaved Blastoise up above its head.

"Horn Drill," Misty heard the man in the shadows bark. Rydon's horn began whirring around with the shrieking grinding sound of metal on bone. Simultaneously Machamp managed to catch the noisome Staryu and whipped the Pokémon into the ground, stunning it.

"Staryu!" Misty screamed as the Machamp rammed its spiked arm through the Staryu's central red core, shattering it like glass, and snuffing out the luminescent glow. It tossed the body aside, turning then on the struggling Pikachu.

Rydon roared in fury and moved to impale Blastoise on its horn, but a whirlwind of fire blasted out of the darkness of a nearby tunnel and wreathed Rydon's head like a halo. Rydon screamed and dropped Blastoise to the ground with a colossal thud as a huge orange dog and a bird bigger than a man leapt onto the scene. Misty immediately saw Ash, battered and bruised all over, sitting against one wall of the far tunnel, giving her a weak thumbs-up.

An instant later the ground shook as an enormous stone serpent slithered out of a flash of white light and dropped to the ground. Brock seemed to materialize from the shadows beside his Onyx, standing tall and holding a pokeball in each hand. "Constrict," came his one word order, and Onyx lunged forward with a bellow, moving for Rydon like a viper.

The wounded Pokémon disappeared in a flash of white light into a pokeball. The pokeball snapped back to the hand of the man in the shadows at the same time that the Machamp jumped into the tunnels entrance. As Onyx slithered forward for the kill, the Machamp drove all four of its appendages into the ceiling and wrenched downwards. Onyx stopped cold as boulders and debris came crashing down in the tunnel and completely blocked it off.

Chittering like mad, Pikachu bolted forward, passed and completely ignoring Arcanine and Fearow, and jumped into Ash's arms. The trainer grimacing in pain but pulled the Pokémon into an embrace, laughing just a little. Brock sighed and moved forward to Onyx as Misty stood baffled for a moment.

"Ash!" she yelled, breaking forward when it clicked and dropping to her knees beside him. "You're alive!" she said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She grabbed his hand and little tears began to drip down her cheeks. "Don't you ever," she began, but stopped when he smiled at her.

"I missed you too," he said nonchalantly, winching just a little at the pain that lanced through his side.

Misty quickly looked him over and the elated joy vanished into horror. "What the hell happened to you?" she gasped. The trainer was bruised if not bleeding quite literately all over. His hands were purple and most of his fingers were swollen painfully. Black and blue blotches stood out on his face and neck, and dried blood ran like tattoos from the scrapes across his face, shoulders, and down his arms.

"I basically fell off a cliff," he said. "A waterfall really, but Arcanine saved me. He started to carry me out of the mountains, but then we heard what sounded like a factory coming from one of the tunnels and decided to check it out." He paused when the terrified look on Misty's face remained. "Hey," he said with a grin, trying to sound reassuring. "I'll be fine in a couple of days, really. If this," he gestured at the bruises and clotted gashes, "was going to kill me I'd already be done. I'm on the mend."

Both trainers turned as Brock approached, wearing heavy black body armor and a brown cloak. Onyx moved beside him and stopped when Brock stopped beside Ash and Misty. "Glad to see that both of you are ok," he said, smiling as much as he ever did. "Mostly," he looked at Ash. "Did you jump off a building?"

"Something like that," answered Ash. "What about you? What are you doing out this far?"

"A number of things," Brock said, "looking for you two for one. When the storms hit I was worried the mountain would become too dangerous to cross and I wanted to make sure you were both alright."

"Going soft on us?" asked Ash, good humouredly.

"Not hardly," answered the gym leader. He scowled and turned around. "I was also looking for Team Rocket," he said. "I'd heard that they were running some kind of operation in the mountains that was disrupting the local wildlife." He gestured out at the slaughter operation. "I guess we found it."

SC

Investigation of the Rocket Operation in Mt. Moon revealed nothing concrete or useful. None of the grunts were carrying anything incriminating beyond their uniforms, which wouldn't count for much more than hearsay to anyone who hadn't seen the carnage firsthand. There had been no documentation of the operation's purpose or to whom its people reported.

So, with little more than their lives and a newfound mystery, Brock, Ash, and Misty all set out into the tunnels, Brock leading the way. Onyx forged a trail ahead, the Pokémon's innate sense of direction proving invaluable, while Brock sat atop the serpent's skull in the tall tunnel. Ash elected to ride Arcanine, having gained the strength to sit up straight, and Misty sat behind her traveling companion on Arcanine's back, arms around Ash's waist.

The big orange canine bore both trainers with seemed ease, striding beside Onyx as comfortably as ever, and regularly looking back over his shoulder to confirm that Ash's condition hadn't changed in the last thirty seconds. Likewise Misty and Pikachu kept regular tabs on the youngest trainer of the group while he chatted with Brock.

"Wait," Ash said, pausing the conversation with the Pewter Gym Leader. "How old are you exactly if you spent five years as a guard up on Indigo Plateau?"

"Twenty-three," Brock responded. "I applied for an open position on the Plateau when I was fourteen and happened to get it. My father died when I was nineteen though, so I came back to Pewter to run the gym and take care of my brothers and sisters. I've been there ever since."

"And now you're going out on the road," said Ash, "and leaving the Gym to…" he probed.

Brock grinned. "My little sister," he said as the party came around a bend in the dimly lit tunnel and saw real sunlight streaming into the gloom from the opening in the stone wall ahead. "She's a decent enough trainer, probably about my level, and she's a much better administrator than me, loyal to a fault. She'll be more than capable of holding things down with the help of the police…" he paused. "And I left her direct instructions to run anyone from Team Rocket out of town."

The party rode out into the sunlight, each of the three nearly blinded by the mid-morning sunlight. "Now there's a sight," said Ash. The trainers and their Pokémon had emerged from the side of Mt. Moon and onto a small plateau just large enough to hold them all. Beneath them the grass lined highway of Route Four ran straight into the distance to the edge of what looked like a sapphire in the distance.

"Cerulean City," said Brock. "I've only been there once or twice and never for more than a few hours. It is a beautiful place though." Ash nodded and the trainers set off down the path leading from the Plateau down into the grassland. Likely because of the mammoth Onyx and regal Arcanine carrying the party, the trainers moved unopposed through the tall grass. Ash grinned, ignoring the ache, when Misty relaxed enough to drop her forehead unthinkingly onto his shoulder and close her eyes. Brock looked down at them and shook his head.

"So you and Misty are off to a good start on your way to Indigo Plateau," said Brock when the party broke through the tall grass and onto the cobblestone highway. "And, given your Pikachu, the Cerulean Gym shouldn't present much of a challenge."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I don't really want to linger though," he paused and glanced around at Misty then, once he was reasonably convinced she was dozing, "Misty seems uncomfortable with the idea of staying in Cerulean, so I don't want her to have to stay any longer than necessary."

"Hmph," Brock acknowledged. "And from Cerulean you plan to visit Bill to the north. Where will you go from there?"

"We could go several different ways," said Ash. "I'd like to go south to Saffron, but we'll just have to see how things look once Bill gets the Pokedex up and running."

"Good answer," said Brock. "Whichever way you go, I'd like to come along, make sure you two don't get in too far over your heads."

Ash nodded again. "Sure," he said without a second thought. "You're more than welcome to and Team Rocket won't be better off for you helping us out."

"Yes," said the Gym Leader. "I do plan on making sure that whatever those bastards are planning doesn't happen."

The party made quick progress along Route Four, passing a few awed travelers on the road and making it to the outskirts of Cerulean by early afternoon. Ash woke Misty as the party crossed the first little bridge into the town.

Cerulean had been constructed on the southeastern side of an enormous lake fed by rivers from the north, and the town itself actually consisted of numerous little islands, each about the size of a city block or two and connected by canals that all either ran into or were fed by the lake. Thusly bridges and boats were the primary means of moving from one section of the city to the next, and as the party passed over the bridge leading into the first island of Cerulean proper, Ash couldn't help but stop and look down on a small ferry carrying a dozen passengers beneath him in the canal.

"Ah yes," said Brock, sniffing the air which, Ash noticed, smelled faintly of sewage. "There is the smell I never missed when I left the city."

Brock and Ash returned their Pokémon to their respective pokeballs and walked the rest of the way to avoid people staring. Finding the Pokémon Center was not difficult. It had its own complex built on one of the first islands Ash, Misty, and Brock came across. It was also one of the taller buildings in town, being five stories high. When the party entered, the clerk at the front desk took one look at Ash and told him the human hospital was just across the canal, but promptly got the trainers a room on the top floor, per Ash's request.

Once settled into their apartment, Brock said that he was going to go out and pick up a few supplies and get a feel for the town. Both he and Misty agreed that Ash needed to spend the rest of the day at the very least resting in bed and getting his strength back. Much to Ash's chagrin, he had no say in the matter and Misty stayed behind to enforce the house arrest once Brock had left.

"Hey," said Ash, laying in one of the two twin beds in the room. "How are you doing?"

Misty stood in the corner of the room, looking out the windows on two walls to observe the city. "Hm?" she responded, turning to face him. "I'm alright," she said. "I'm glad we're out of that mountain."

"Likewise," said Ash, taking a pause to survey the room. It struck him as a little odd just how similar all of the Pokémon centers were to one another. This room looked almost exactly like the one they'd used during their stay in Pewter. It was a corner suite with big windows giving them a view of most of the city, and two twin beds with little else in the way of furniture. "I'm really sorry about your Staryu…" he said.

Misty sighed and shrugged. "It wasn't your fault," she answered. "We were overmatched by those… those," she stopped.

"Monsters?" suggested Ash.

"Yeah," said Misty, not sure what other word fit. "What the hell were those things?"

"Those," said Ash, "were two very good reasons to stop Team Rocket… and why I'm glad Brock showed up to save us."

SC

Returning to the Pokémon Center at a little before five, Brock relieved Misty so that she could go and take her Blastoise to the hospital ward to have its shell looked at. Once Misty was gone, Brock brought his pack over to Ash and set it by the bed, then pulled out a small prescription bottle and held it out for the battered trainer.

"What's this?" Ash asked, taking the bottle and checking the label.

"I stopped by the hospital on my way back," said the Gym Leader, "told them I was going out into the wilds up north and needed something that could bring someone back from the brink in a hurry. When you're the head of a gym, people don't ask too many questions."

"The wonders of modern medicine," said Ash, taking one of the pills and swallowing it dry.

"You'll also want to eat," said Brock, taking a small duffel bag from his pack and setting it beside Ash. "Fast healing won't do you a lot of good if there's nothing your body can use to rebuild. Fortunately it doesn't look like the food shortage has spread this far."

Opening the bag, Ash immediately smelled the fish inside. "That, or they just get all their food from the lake and the rivers."

"Yeah," said Brock when Ash began perusing the contents of the bag. "Sorry that Magikarp flatbread rolls are all, but it's healthy and pretty inexpensive, even if it tastes like crap."

"Don't apologize," said Ash, taking a bite of one of the cold fish rolls and swallowing before it had time to settle on his tongue. "It's more than you had to do."

Brock nodded. "I figure if we're going to be traveling together it's not a bad idea to try and keep everyone as healthy as possible while spending as little as we can…" Ash nodded and Brock continued. "Speaking of," he said, "how long have you and the girl been together?"

"Misty?" Ash clarified after another bite. "Um, we've been on the road for a while now… since Pallet Town was destroyed, however long ago that was."

"And you trust her?" Brock asked, ignoring Ash's callousness to his home's annihilation.

Looking up, not missing Brock's suddenly cold tone, Ash nodded wary for a second. "She's saved my life more than once," he said, "risking her own in the process."

Brock met Ash's eye and they stared at each other for a moment, one suddenly completely alien to the other. The kind and warm Brock from the road had vanished and Pikachu, until now quietly sitting at the foot of Ash's bed, got up quietly and watched the two of them. After a moment, Brock's steely gaze melted and his grey eyes softened.

"Good," he said nonchalantly. "That kind of trust is necessary in a small group making their way in a world like ours."

Ash sighed and began munching on another fish roll as Brock walked to the refrigerator and deposited a small plastic bag.

"So what's your story?" asked Brock abruptly, turning back to Ash. "Sure the grandson of the great Professor Oak has some interesting tales to tell."

"Not as many as you might expect," said Ash, glad that Brock had warmed back up. "Most of the adventures center around my grandpa, though I was his assistant for ten years…"

This began a long exchange between Brock and Ash, during which the two exchanged stories of their past adventures, and in many cases, misadventures. It surprised Ash to learn that Brock actually came from very humble origins, being the son of a simple mason who, after Pewter's walls were complete, took up a job at the Gym. From there Brock's father went on to climb to the top of the Gym and became leader, leaving one day on an adventure from which he never returned. His father being presumed dead prompted Brock's return.

Ultimately it was Misty's return that concluded the conversation. She announced that Blastoise was going to be fine after a bit of rest, and from there, each trainer did something on their own. Ash focused on eating whatever was within grabbing distance, being taken with an insatiable hunger that surprised neither Brock nor Misty, once she learned of the medicine. By the time night rolled around, Ash looked much better and could stand without issue, prompting him to risk a shower. Most of the swelling in his hands had gone down and the bruises that had covered him like a bad rash had faded noticeably.

Before bed, Ash ate another mammoth meal and took another of the pills at Brock's suggestion. Misty and Ash took the beds that night, while Brock insisted that he would actually prefer to take the floor, and all three trainers nodded off, ending their first day in Cerulean without incident.

SC

Waking late the next morning, Ash discovered that both Misty and Brock had been up for some time, going about their limited businesses. Brock had already gone out to replenish the supplies they'd gone through during the previous day, leaving Misty to keep a close eye on Ash. Misty prepared a large, but simple, meal which Ash ate gratefully.

"Are you sure we can trust Brock?" asked Misty abruptly as Ash was finishing up breakfast.

Ash, a little taken aback by the question, took a moment to finish his mouthful and respond. "What is it with the two of you?" he asked, only half joking. "Neither one of you seems to trust the other for anything."

"I just want to make sure that we're not going to be traveling with someone who we aren't sure is on our side. I mean, can we really be sure about his motives? How do we know he's really as against Team Rocket as he says he is?"

Ash shrugged, not wanting to argue. "If he wasn't on our side he wouldn't have saved us back in Mt. Moon. I'm not sure about you, but I don't think Arcanine, Blastoise, and Pikachu were going to be able to handle those Rocket Monsters. Brock saved our lives, and you have to give him that."

"True," Misty nodded.

"You're too on edge," Ash grinned. "Lighten up a little. What's bothering you?"

Misty shook her head. "Nothing," she said, turning away and walking to look out the window again. "I just think we should hurry up and finish here and get moving," she paused. "Once you feel up to it," she quickly amended, looking him over.

Taking a curt breath, Ash stood up and pulled his bag up onto the bed and began setting out his clothes and the body armor from Pallet. "I feel well enough," he said, looking at the acid etched scratch across the breast of the armor, "to at least go and check out the gym, maybe even challenge the leader." He smiled at her. "Care to join me?"

"What?" Misty shook a little. "Ash, you can't be serious. You're still hurt. You need to take at least another day to rest or you might reinjure yourself and going to challenge the gym leader is the last thing you should think about doing today."

Quickly shrugging out of the shirt he'd worn to bed, Ash put on a fresh outfit, over which he fitted the body armor with relative ease. "See," said Ash, intentionally with an immature tone and a smug grin. "I can even dress myself without getting hurt." The young trainer grimaced a little when his attempt at humor failed to brighten Misty's spirits.

She stood by the window, watching him with her arms folded in front of her chest, obviously bothered. "Please," said Misty, smiling just a very little, "I know you're going so please, please, don't push yourself too hard."

"Come with me," said Ash. "It won't be the same if you're not there to back me up."

"No," Misty said, glancing down at Pikachu who was busy cleaning  
himself. "I can't."

"Misty," said Ash, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don't want to press, but are you alright? Is there something about Cerulean bothering you?"

"I really am sorry," said Misty. She took a deep breath. "But remember when I said there are some things I just won't tell you because they only affect me?" Ash nodded. Misty looked away and then back at him. "This is one of those things," she said. "Don't mention me when you're at the gym."

"Alright," Ash nodded. He grabbed his pack and slung it over his shoulder, shivering as the action sent a throbbing ripple through his back. He walked passed Misty, smiling at her as he opened the door, Pikachu right beside him. "If there's ever anything I can do for you, I'd be more than happy to."

"Be careful," she answered immediately. "And please, just take care of yourself."

Ash nodded. "Done," he said, closing the door.

Ash looked down at Pikachu, who was looking up at him casually, then shrugged. _I don't know_, he mouthed to the Pokémon.

SC

The Cerulean City Gym was as easy to find as the Pokémon Center. Standing two stories tall, surrounded by a moat and a polished white wall, and decorated with crystal blue windows and fountains that ran down the sides of the building, the gym struck Ash as more of a palace than a defensive structure. "We are definitely not in Pallet anymore," he said, looking to his left and down at Pikachu, and then to his right at Arcanine who stood proudly beside him. "Shall we?"

He walked to the front door, over a small bridge made of the same material as the white walls, and walked inside. Pausing for a moment to look around, the young trainer couldn't help but wonder at the ornamented interior of the gym. The main level consisted of a massive pool, filling up almost the entire floor and ringed by only a thin beach of sand. The walls of the second story above had windows for observing the pool beneath, and all throughout the pool, lounging on one of the few dozen little islands or taking a swim were people with pokeballs snapped to magnetic belts.

"Is this a resort or a gym?" he wondered aloud. "It must be ninety degrees in here."

"Hi there," said a chipper young woman, blonde and tan, wearing a blue bikini and an orange towel. She paused, seeing the Arcanine and Pikachu at Ash's sides, but smiled warmly and bowed just a little. "Welcome to the Cerulean Gym," she went on. "I'm Tatsuka, one of the attendants here and is there anything I can do for you? Maybe I could get you a bathing suit?"

"Oh, no thank you," said Ash, smiling back at the trainer, noting both the pokeballs at her waist and her athletic figure. "Actually I wasn't planning on staying long, but I was hoping to speak to the Gym Leader. It's important."

Tatsuka grimaced a little and crossed her arms. "If you're with those Rocket people," she said, tone becoming bitter, "Kasumi already said no."

Glancing around as soon as the trainer mentioned Rocket, Ash saw that he'd attracted the attention of several of the trainers throughout the gym, including, he saw, a tall girl near the back who sat by herself on a sandy little island. The sunlight coming in through the huge skylights, which made up most of ceiling, caught the trainer as she stood up, making her fiery orange hair shimmer. For a moment Ash was struck dumb, thinking he was looking at Misty.

"Umm," he stammered. "No, I'm not with Team Rocket. Actually I was hoping that I could talk to, Kasumi was it?"

Taking a step back and looking over Ash up and down, Tatsuka's face lightened and she looked over her shoulder to the trainer near the back, who nodded. Only then did Ash notice the thin wire running from his host's earpiece to a transmitter slipped next to a pokeball.

"Alright then," said the girl. "I didn't mean to be rude," she quickly smiled.

"Absolutely alright," Ash said, stepping forward as Tatsuka gestured to him, and the girl who he guessed to be Kasumi, left her island and began swimming for them. The orange haired girl climbed out of the enormous pool.

"Are you Kasumi?" asked Ash. "The Gym Leader?"

The girl nodded. "That's me," she said politely, extending her hand.

"My name is Ash," he said, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. "Ash Ketchum." He looked around as most of the other trainers in the gym trained their attention on the happenings at the front. "And I have something of an… unorthodox, request."

Kasumi smirked and crossed her arms, accenting her already notable bust, Ash thought. "Do you now," she said. "This should be interesting, coming from someone who walked into my gym, flanked by a Pikachu and an Arcanine, looking like he's been run over by a Ryhorn and come back for more. What can I do for a rugged guy like you then?"

_Do I really look that bad_? Ash wondered. "I need Cerulean's recommendation for passage into Malebolge, via Indigo Plateau." Kasumi's eyes widened a little and her smile grew. "I came to you because, as the head of Cerulean's Gym, you have the authority to ask the Elite Four to let me by. Simple enough?" It was still awkward, Ash thought, to so nonchalantly ask for something that would doubtlessly lead everyone within earshot to think him crazy.

Tatsuka raised an eyebrow as Kasumi laughed one crystalline laugh. "That certainly is an interesting request," she said. "Now, for the sake of conversation, assume I do send my recommendation to the Elite Four that they let you by, why? What on earth is there in Malebolge that you would risk your life for, or is this some kind of joke?"

"I can promise you I'm not joking," said Ash.

"I didn't think that you were," said Kasumi, waving to Tatsuka who walked off. "A request like that wouldn't make for a funny one anyway," she motioned for him to follow, which Ash did, as she walked around the edge of the giant pool to a table and chair, set for two and comfortably tucked away behind a corner. "You're not with Team Rocket," she said without taking a seat. "But this clearly involves Team Rocket in one way or another. Do you mind if I present my theory?"

"By all means," said Ash, running his hand through Arcanine's flowing mane and holding Pikachu up on his shoulder.

Kasumi looked Ash over for a moment, with what in mind Ash was uncertain, and then looked him in the eye. "You've heard some crazy legend about treasure at the bottom of Cerulean Cave, and you've somehow learned that Malebolge is connected to the lower levels of the cave, so now you're treasure hunting. Either you're working for Team Rocket to get me to help you bypass the cave, and lying to me," she said, "or you're hoping to get to the bottom of that cave, and the bottom of the mystery, first… am I getting hot?"

Ash nodded, surprised. "Actually you're pretty close," he said. "In fact that's about it…"

"But you can't just walk up to the Elite Four and ask to get by," said Kasumi, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms again. "You need people supporting your efforts, people to whom the Elite Four listen, the Gym Leaders. So you must be planning to go to all of the other gyms and garner the support of those leaders also."

_Damn she's quick_, Ash thought. A thought occurred to him and he set his pack on the table, then from it promptly removed Brock's manila envelope, the envelope containing Pewter's recommendation that Ash be allowed to proceed into Malebolge. He handed Kasumi the letter. "I've already convinced Brock, Pewter's Gym Leader, to see things my way." Ash also reached inside his vest's pocket and produced the Boulder Badge for Kasumi to see as she scanned the letter.

Looking up from the vellum and glancing at the badge, Kasumi smirked again. "This is addressed to the Elite Four," she said. "Brock said you proved to him that he thinks you should be allowed to go into Malebolge, and he sealed the letter with both Pewter Gym's seal, and his own…" She looked him over again. "Brock is a good man. He's an honest man and he's as strong as any mountain. If he's on your side, it's because you're on the right side.

"I'll make you a deal," said Kasumi. "You impressed Brock, which isn't easy to do, but I still need to see what you're capable of. We'll have a little contest here, in my gym, your Pokémon against mine in a friendly bout. If you can win, I'll grant you my recommendation."

"Sounds fair," said Ash, glancing at Pikachu.

"Hold on," said Kasumi, setting her hands on her hips and playing with the ties holding her silver bikini bottom in place. "I'm not stupid Ash. I know about a Pikachu and its powers. If you want to impress me it will have to be in some way other than beating me with a Pokémon naturally effective against my arsenal."

"What would you recommend then," said Ash, crossing his arms and then reaching up to his shoulder to pet his Pokémon's head.

Kasumi smiled at Arcanine. "I've never seen a Pokémon," she said, as much to Arcanine to Ash, "with such a fierce reputation up close." She refocused on Ash. "If your Arcanine can defeat my best Pokémon I'll admit defeat."

Arcanine eagerly barked once before Ash could say a thing, as if to accept the challenge.

"Easy," said Ash, continuing to pet the huge canine. "Don't be too quick to leap before you look," he turned to Kasumi and grinned. "That said, why should I willfully use a Pokémon I know you'll be naturally good against?" Arcanine barked again, eyes flickering with excitement.

Kasumi's lips twisted up in a wry grin. "You wouldn't have brought such a magnificent Pokémon if you weren't supremely confident in him. Besides, what would be more impressive than knowingly putting yourself at a disadvantage and winning anyway?"

Ash thought for a second, then turned to Arcanine who yipped and pawed at the ground a little. "Alright," he said. "I accept."

"Perfect," said Kasumi, clapping her hands once and walking around the corner, followed by Ash and his Pokémon. "Everyone, up and out," she shouted. "There's going to be a contest here for a few minutes. Everyone please head up to the observation deck until we're finished." Kasumi walked to the side of the pool opposite Ash, motioning for him to stay where he was as everyone in the pool began to get out and head off in various directions.

Once they were as alone as they could be with people watching from the windows above, Kasumi grinned and took a pokeball. "Why don't we make this quick then?" she said, tossing the pokeball out above the water.

Ash grinned and looked over at Arcanine. "Sounds good to me," he said as Kasumi's pokeball snapped open and a glowing shape dropped into the water before Ash could tell what it was. "Let's focus on sheer speed," he said to his Pokémon.

Barking loudly in acknowledgment, Arcanine bolted forward in a burst of speed that nearly knocked Ash's cap from his head. The Pokémon took one step across the surface of the water, leaving a puff of steam and vapor in its wake, before he settled on the nearest little island, waiting to see what would come up out of the water.

Across the water, Kasumi smiled a tight-lipped grin, and settled in place. Arcanine sniffed the surface of the water as his gaze darted from one place to another, tracking something Ash couldn't make out. Huge pincers jutted up out of the water and snapped shut with a smash. Arcanine had jerked back not an instant too soon, the pincers closing a hairsbreadth in front of his nose.

"Krabby?" Ash thought aloud as the claws sank back beneath the surface. "Or a Kingler maybe? That would make sense."

Ash watched as Arcanine jumped backwards, again as half of a shelled orange body sprang out, attached to the massive pincer that snapped closed mere inches from where Arcanine's paw had just been. The canine caught it's balance and lunged forward, jaws open wide, maw glowing like a furnace. A cone of flame ten feet wide at the end blasted from between Arcanine's teeth and enveloped the surprised Kingler. Hissing and spitting as it withdrew with all haste, Kingler slipped back into the water, protected by its body's film of water and mucous only long enough to avoid being flash-boiled.

Kasumi clapped her hands once. "You must have worked with your Arcanine for months to develop a Flamethrower technique so hot," she said, obvious concern for her Pokémon mixing with surprise and amazement in her tone.

Ash only returned a smile. _I wish I could take the credit_, he thought. "Arcanine, keep it up!" _Draw it out if you can_, he would have shouted if not for the other trainer listening. "Save your energy," he said instead. "No more flame attacks."

Arcanine shot a curious glance at Ash, but acknowledged what he understood of the order with a bark. Simultaneously, two scaly eyes on stalks poked just far enough out of the water to glance at Arcanine and Kasumi.

"Come on out," said Kasumi, overhearing Ash's order. "We're not dealing with an opponent with stamina. We'll use brute strength."

_So much for a friendly contest_, Ash thought, watching as a crustacean as big as Arcanine and moving on six spider-like legs, pull itself up out of the water on an island adjacent to Arcanine. The armored body of the Pokémon, sporting a segmented and spiny exoskeleton reinforced by both internal and external ribs and overlapping scales, made Ash question Arcanine's ability to get at the soft interior of the Pokémon. "Extreme Speed," he ordered, sticking with his plan as soon as the Pokémon was fully out of the water.

Before the order was complete, Arcanine's form blurred and vanished in a flash of water vapor thrown up by the motion. Arcanine seemed to materialize from nothing behind Kingler, at the same instant the surface of an island adjacent to the Pokémon seemed to tear itself loose and bolt into the air. Paws dug into the grassy surface of the island as Kingler's eye-stalks flipped backwards, Arcanine's muscles bulged and his claws tore into the ground as he propelled himself forward in a vicious, all-out, slam attack. Arcanine's lowered shoulder connected with Kingler's shell and hurled both Pokémon forward. Kingler's hooked feet clawed at nothing as Arcanine's attack threw it straight into the water with a splash. Arcanine managed to dig in its claws and hold its footing.

"Wow," Ash and Kasumi muttered in unison as a panting Arcanine paced around the shredded little island, scanning the bottom of the pool for Kingler. Pikachu, watching intently, chittered noisily in a tone Ash recognized as the Pokémon's equivalent of a cheer.

"That hurt," said Kasumi. She looked through the pool for Kingler, then jumped and dove into the water. Ash cocked his head a little I surprise ad shouted for Arcanine to hold. Ash scanned the water for any movement, but saw nothing until Kasumi burst up from the water beneath his when he was looking elsewhere. Ash jumped and nearly fell backwards, but held his place and looked down at the Gym Leader.

Kasumi, laughing just a little, pulled herself up to the edge of the pool and rested her elbows on the narrow shore. "Your big bad Arcanine scared my Kingler," she said, much to Ash's surprise. "He doesn't want to keep fighting," Kasumi went on, looking up at Ash. "I could order him to continue, but I think we both know that the advantage here goes to you."

"Well, I guess," said Ash, struggling to maintain eye contact with the leader. "Does this mean you give up?"

Kasumi smirked. "I don't know about 'give up,' but it means I'm willing to grant that if this fight were for real, I would not be able to win without losses I'm unwilling to accept."

Ash, deciding that it would be more appropriate to sit, did so and placed himself nearly level with Kasumi. "So this means you'll give me a recommendation?"

"So single-minded," said the girl. "You need to loosen up some. But yes, I'll write a recommendation for you to the Elite Four. I'll tell them that I was impressed with your skills etcetera, etcetera."

Ash smiled. "Perfect," he said. "I'll go tell the others right now and be back in a bit," he started to stand up as Arcanine jumped across the water to join him.

"What's the rush?" asked Kasumi, splashing Ash and soaking his pant leg. "Who said I was finished with you just yet?" Ash turned around, and Kasumi went on. "I think I have something of a proposition for you. Why don't you join me for lunch at my apartment, I'll draw up the papers, and we can talk some."

"That sounds alright," said Ash with a something between a shrug and a nod. "Sure. Lunch it is."

SC

Sunshine streaming in from the windows and skylight lit up the comfortable suite in much the same way Cerulean Gym sparkled with a watery glitter. Ash first noted how clean Kasumi kept her apartment. All of the furniture, supple as it was, remained neatly brushed and unstained and the spotless white carpet only accentuated that cleanliness of the living room in which Ash stood.

"Wow," said, glancing from his spot in the entryway into the dining room and kitchen in turn. "This is your apartment?"

Kasumi, standing beside him and still in her silver bikini and sandals, closed the door behind them and nodded. She kicked out of her sandals and walked across the plush carpet to an open doorway, hair and smile both catching the sunlight. "It's actually inexpensive to live here," she said. "Even luxury accommodations in Cerulean aren't hard to afford. I spend more on food and utilities than I do on rent. Make yourself at home," she gestured to the couch and coffee table. "I'll change and be right out."

As she closed the door, Ash pulled off his boots, setting them beside Kasumi's sandals, and walked to the couch, wishing Pikachu were on his shoulder. He'd sent the little Pokémon back to the Pokémon Center with a note telling both Misty and Brock that he was fine, but little else.

"Sure is friendly," he said to himself, sprawling out on the couch and relaxing with a sigh. "Refreshing." Ash waited patiently as fifteen minutes ticked by, then twenty. He took Fearow's pokeball from his belt and held it next to Arcanine's in front of his face, idly examining both until what he assumed was the bedroom door opened.

"Sorry about the wait," said Kasumi, stepping barefoot out into the living room. "Glad to see you're comfortable," she smiled.

Ash stammered for a second, not sure if it would be inappropriate to stare. Kasumi's dress, something akin to a comfortable evening gown nearly the same color of silver as her bikini had been, managed to leave little to the imagination while leaving modesty intact.

"Y-yeah," he said, wearing a dumb grin. "That's an amazing outfit."

"You like it?" she said, turning a little, not hiding that within the folds of the dress she had found a place for a pokeball. "This one was a gift. My grandparents gave it to me." She walked towards the kitchen and called over her shoulder, "what can I get for you?"

"Just water, thanks," he said politely, glancing at a bookshelf opposite the coffee table and noticing that Kasumi didn't have a television.

"That's no fun," called the trainer from the kitchen, perusing through the contents of the refrigerator. "You're my guest and I promised I'd serve you lunch. There's not much you could ask for that I wouldn't have lying around here somewhere."

Ash sighed and got to his feet, then wandered over towards the kitchen. "Well, what do I have to choose from, if you insist on being so polite?" he grinned.

Stepping aside, then sidling up to Ash some as he leaned down to look into the fridge, Kasumi began pointing out what exactly might be made into something edible. After much deliberation and finally deciding on tacos, Ash volunteered to handle preparing the meat if Kasumi would chop the veggies, to which the gym leader agreed. The two began making small talk to pass the minutes as the stove warmed up and Kasumi selected and washed the veggies.

"So what's Professor Oak's grandson doing all the way out here in Cerulean?" asked Kasumi once Ash dumped the meat into a frying pan and set it over the gas flame.

Ash grinned as the Gym Leader pulled a long knife from a stand and began dicing up a tomato. "So you knew, huh?"

"Ash Ketchum?" Kasumi laughed. "I suppose it's less subtle than Ash Oak or something, but still, with your family, your dad, not many people older than you won't at least recognize your name."

Watching to make sure nothing burned, Ash shrugged. "I'm sure you heard about Pallet Town," he paused as Kasumi nodded. "Well, that sorta left me without a home. Grandpa is … doing something important I'm sure, and I'm headed up north to talk to a guy named Bill."

"The researcher?" probed Kasumi. "I know Bill, nice guy."

"He's supposed to be working with grandpa on some big project they want me to be a part of."

"So now you're traveling the wilds by yourself?"

"Not completely by myself," said Ash.

"Ah," said Kasumi, turning around and leaning against the island to face Ash. "Well, I'd imagine that's at least a little safer then."

Ash nodded. "So tell me a little about Cerulean," he said. "This is my first time here, and it's a beautiful place. What's some of the history behind the city?"

"It would take me a long time to tell you everything I know about Cerulean," said Kasumi. "We're a fairly new city, but what town out here on the frontier isn't new compared to the core cities?" Ash nodded. "We do have a very full history though, even if not all of it's sunshine and flowers."

Ash listened with genuine interest as Kasumi told him about the four families that founded Cerulean some sixty years ago, and asked questions about some of the details, which his hostess was more than happy to answer. "I guess you might say the most recent major event would be the wild Snorlax that attacked Cerulean several years ago," said Kasumi with a sigh.

Ash's ears perked up. "A Snorlax?" he probed.

Nodding, Kasumi went on. "Yes, it happened more than a decade ago, when the Gym was just getting started. It killed some ninety people, including… ten, or eleven maybe, trainers. It was pretty terrible… I actually lost my parents in that fight."

"I'm sorry," said Ash. "That must have been really hard."

Kasumi raised her shoulders and dropped them. "I was ten at the time," she answered, "old enough to understand that bad things randomly happen to good people. Since then I focused on my … on my sisters, and just enjoying life as much as I can."

"Sisters?" Ash asked, returning to the thought of just how much Kasumi looked like Misty, and finding himself very aware that the Gym Leader would be twenty by now. "Do they work at the gym?"

"My family isn't really a popular subject in this town," said Kasumi, the glow in her features fading. "We have something of a … checkered past."

"Ah," said Ash, refocusing on breaking up the meat in the pan. "I didn't mean to bring up something touchy."

"It's nothing I can hide," said Kasumi. "Anyone who knows anything about Cerulean has at least heard the rumors of the Gym…. It's not easy you know," she said, turning to him with another wry grin, "staying on top in a city where your family is blacklisted. I have to constantly reinforce my position at the gym through whatever means necessary."

"Whatever means?" Ash repeated, suddenly uncomfortable with the way Kasumi looked at him.

"Hm," toned Kasumi, turning back to the veggies to be diced. "But enough about that," she said, more jovial. "I can't imagine the nuances of politics here are that interesting to you. What else did you want to know?"

Ash paused for a second, mulling over the question that burned in his mind. After a moment's pause, he couldn't contain it. "You don't know anyone from Cerulean named 'Misty,' do you?" he asked.

Kasumi's eyes sparked for an instant, though her face grew suddenly cold so harshly that Ash couldn't have misinterpreted the hatred associated with the name. After an intensely chilling pause, Kasumi's face softened some, whether through genuine calm, or self-restraint Ash was unsure.

"Where did you hear about a Misty from Cerulean?" Kasumi's voice was devoid of its former warmth.

"In Pewter," said Ash as nonchalantly as he could. _Jeez… do all gym leaders have mood swings this extreme_? he wondered, thinking back to his conversation with Brock a day earlier. _Or is it only during __conversations involving Misty_? "It was a unique name and the guy at the Pokémon Center said she was an interesting character, but I couldn't get any more out of him."

"I'm not surprised," said Kasumi. "Last I heard she was headed that direction, though I had hoped Mt. Moon would be the end of her." She turned around, picked up the knife, and rinsed off the blade in the sink before putting it neatly away. "I've only ever met one Misty… she used to be the Gym Leader here and she used to be my sister." Ash barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping. "But now, she's a thieving, murdering bitch who works for Team Rocket."

Ash stood, stunned for a moment. No amount of effort could hide the shock on his face so he turned away and made himself to look intently focused on the cooking meat. Kasumi spoke first, shaking her head and then turning to face Ash's back. "You'd only have to ask around a little bit in town to get part of the story," said Kasumi. "But I think you'd rather hear the whole thing."

_No_, Ash thought, unable to say anything. _I really think I'd rather hear none of it at all now_.

"Besides," Kasumi went on, crossing her arms. "If you want to understand what I brought you here to ask, I think you'd need to hear it."

Swallowing hard and cleansing his face of anything but an unreadable mask, Ash turned around. "Alright," he said, thoughts swimming. "Let's hear it then."

"Misty always was the talented one," said Kasumi, "There was little she set her mind to that she couldn't accomplish, so naturally, when she decided she wanted to be the Gym Leader, it didn't take her too long to climb the ranks and eventually make it to the top. She was only fifteen, but I was there beside her the whole time, helping however and whenever I could. So was Violet, the second oldest of us. When Misty took over the gym, she put Violet and I in a joint second-in-command post, a position we were both happy with, and for a while, everything was fine…"

"It didn't stay that way," Ash guessed.

Kasumi shook her head. "Somewhere along the line, Team Rocket got their claws on Misty, filled her head with all kinds of stories of treasure and power. And she bought it. Misty sold out to those bastards, and effectively gave the gym to them on a platter. Nobody knew it at first, and all anyone could see was that there was an amazing flow of money into the gym. Almost overnight our family became fabulously wealthy. What we didn't see was that any trainers Misty defeated in the gym, that's to say all of them, would disappear as soon as they left the city. Misty also took frequent trips into the wilds west and south of here, but everyone assumed it was to hunt down threats to the city… until Violet followed her one day.

"Misty was tracking down powerful trainers who made their way through Cerulean, ambushing them in the wild, killing them, and selling their Pokémon to Team Rocket for a lucrative price."

Realizing that he had stopped breathing, Ash took a deep breath as Kasumi continued. "Needless to say," continued Kasumi, "Violet and I confronted Misty well outside of Cerulean. We'd planned to force her to leave Team Rocket, but she wouldn't have any of it. She attacked us, and killed Violet. I managed to drive her off but… the damage was done."

Frozen, Ash could think of nothing to say. Even thought failed him as Kasumi trailed off. What could he think? What was there to think?

"Now you know why I have a bone to pick with Team Rocket," said Kasumi. "And now you know why I always have to watch my back. But I imagine you're familiar with the feeling," she stepped forward and rested against the counter beside him. "What are you thinking right now?"

Shaking his head once, Ash stammered to find something to say. "You mentioned you had a proposition for me," he said, unsure why that was the first thought to come to mind.

Kasumi nodded. "Still so direct," she said. "But that's not a bad thing. I told you that maintaining my position requires a great deal of effort, and I'll use whatever means are necessary reinforce my authority, which includes surrounding myself with some of the strongest trainers around." She paused and smiled at him. "You're obviously a very strong trainer, probably very near my level even. Stay at the gym, here with me." Ash's breath caught when she leaned in closer and almost whispered to him. "It's safer here, with me, than out in the wilds where there are bandits and murderers, and the loyalty of someone like yourself would cement my place in the gym. In return, I'd make sure you wanted for nothing, and working together we could completely clear the region of Team Rocket.

"Who's to say where things would progress once Team Rocket was dealt with?" she added. "What do you say?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – Call Him Crazy

Looking down into the water, idly studying the features of his reflection, Ash tried to keep his mind as blank as he could manage. He had been standing there for some time, how long exactly he didn't care. Thoughts came lethargically and even his newly acquired Cascade Badge, tucked away in the vest beneath his tattered armor, seemed a trivial thing. He replayed what Kasumi had said about Misty over and over in his head, trying to find something about the story that didn't fit, some detail that invalidated the Gym Leader's testimony about his partner.

The setting sun, shining in his eyes, was the first thing to alert Ash to how far daylight had waned. He looked up and around from his spot on the bridge between two islands and sighed. I should get back to the center, he told himself, wanting nothing so much as to un-hear everything Kasumi had said. What does it matter though, he wondered, pushing his hands into his pockets as he walked, watching the city wind down for the night and finding his way to the island on which the Pokemon Center sat. Misty has saved my life, multiple times. If she was working for Team Rocket now, would she have done that? … He ruminated on the question, walking slowly up the stairs towards the party's room.

Would she? he asked himself again, putting his hand on the doorknob and walking into the room. There was no discernible way he could be sure, he thought.

"Welcome back," called Brock, stone-faced, from his spot in a foldable chair set in front of a television on a cheap TV tray. "Come here for a second," he said, waving Ash over. "You might want to see this."

Ash caught sight of Misty, looking at him from the bed where she could see the TV. She smiled casually at him without saying anything, and he returned the gesture. The little glimmer, happiness Ash thought, he saw in her eyes seemed to seep straight into his chest and crowd out the trepidation that had been weighing on his heart for the past hours. He relaxed even more when Pikachu got up from Misty's lap and ran to him.

"'Attack leaves dozens dead,'" Ash read the headline of the news report aloud. He grimaced as the anchor, an attractive young woman in a red blouse, sat behind a desk in the news studio commenting on photographs and videos playing across the the studios displays.

"For those of you just joining us," said the anchor, shuffling some papers in her hands, "the Viridian Police Department was the target of a massive attack today by unknown perpetrators that left the city in chaos and at least thirty police officers dead." A short clip of one officer Ash instantly recognized as Jennifer appeared on the display next to the anchor. The shot was from the angle of someone standing directly behind Jennifer as the officer, flanked by two snarling Ninetails, turned away from the camera to face down a huge Arbok.

"While our reporters have yet to be allowed on scene," continued the anchor, while more pictures of carnage and destruction cycled on the displays, "as no one is completely sure if the danger has passed, we are being told that Team Rocket, a local group of community organizers, has been spotted near the police station's ruins trying to help the wounded and get supplies to the site of the disaster."

Brock's face soured as though the report left a bad taste in his mouth. "Team Rocket is behind the attack," he said, his tone devoid of uncertainty. "They wanted officer Jenny dead."

Ash and Misty both turned to the Gym Leader with curious glances, though it was Ash who spoke. "Not that I doubt it," he said. "But what makes you so certain?"

"I know Jenny," Brock responded, resting his elbows on his knees as he sat. "She's a damned good officer and she was secretly investigating Team Rocket a few months back when I went to Viridian. She came to me wanting my help, but I didn't have any information to offer... Knowing her and knowing now what I know about Team Rocket, she must have found something and I'd bet anything that this attack was to shut her up."

"What should we do?" asked Ash. "Do you think we should go back and-"

"There's no way we'd make it to Viridian in time to be any help," said Brock tersely. "For now, if she's still alive, Jenny will be on her own. The best thing we can do is keep going, get this Pokedex thing to Bill and then follow through with your plan to get to Indigo Plateau. If we're lucky then we might be able to convince the Elite Four to intervene and deal with Team Rocket by then."

Nodding, Ash felt his face fall some, realizing just how long of a road lay ahead of their little team, and just how unlikely it was they would be able to affect any kind of real change. "Oh," he said, as if the thought was a side note. "I managed to beat Kasumi at the gym. She gave me the badge and a letter of recommendation."

Brock and Misty turned to him, shock evident on both faces. "That's where you were all day?" asked Misty. "You spent the whole day at Kasumi's?"

"I told you I was going to challenge the Gym Leader," said Ash. He turned to Misty, automatically scrutinizing her face. "And it's not like it was a quick and easy fight." Even though it really was...

Misty pursed her lips. "Still, you were there all day?"

"Well, not the whole time," he said, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. "I went out and wandered around a little afterward."

Brock grinned for the first time since Ash's return. "Well this is all a pleasant surprise. If we have everything we need here, then we could move north in the morning. Oh, and," he amended, "that's impressive Ash. Nice work."

Misty and Ash both agreed. "The sooner we're back on the road and on our way to Saffron, the better," said Ash, glancing out the windows, taking a moment to enjoy the view the big glass panes provided. "I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to..."

That said, all three trainers began to bunker down for the night. Brock ensured that the group had more than enough supplies for the road, packing the party's backpacks with all of the essentials while skipping on even the most rudimentary of luxuries. Misty in turn went about putting the room in order so they could check out as early as possible, and Ash took the first shower. Without much in the way of conversation, Ash, Misty, and Brock settled in at nine o'clock, ready to get up before sunrise as to reach Bill's by early in the next day's afternoon.

Laying in the dark, unable to sleep, Ash stared at the ceiling and played through the days events once more in his mind.

Are you sure I can't convince you to stay? Kasumi had asked, pouting lips making it nearly impossible for Ash to refuse her. Ash had shaken his head and told her, after a long discussion of exactly what his future in Cerulean might include, that he had other responsibilities that had to come before her generous offers. Kasumi had then shrugged and sidled up to him a little more, expressing her regret that he wouldn't see things her way.

Ash sighed, still staring into the dark, and reached up, covering his lips with his hand. He hadn't expected her to kiss him, and he realized only after leaving her apartment, badge and recommendation in hand, how barefaced her attempts at seduction had been. Still, the fact that he'd almost fallen for it bothered him, making it difficult to fall asleep, and haunting his dreams when he did.

SC

After spending the night tossing and turning, Ash woke early the next morning, well before Misty or even Brock, sweating and cold. His breath was uneven and he felt clammy and sick as he sat up in bed. At some point during the night he'd ceased dreaming about Kasumi and his mind had born witness to a cacophonous riot of murderous images and sounds. The young trainer's stomach turned and for a moment he fought back vomiting.

Feeling something stir beside him on the bed Ash looked down and saw Pikachu's liquid onyx eyes staring up at him. The Pokemon bumped his flank with its nose and continued looking up at the trainer, who held one hand over his mouth, trembling, and with the other reached to pet Pikachu. What the hell was that? he wondered, laying back down and realizing he'd left the sheets soaked with sweat.

He tried not to think about it, choosing to stare at the ceiling as Pikachu curled up on his chest, but the dream seemed to manifest before his eyes. As the trainer's mind cleared, so too did the nebulous dread that had taken him in the night. He remembered seeing people while he slept, hundreds of them, walking through dark streets at night and suddenly doubling over and dropping dead, rotting where they fell.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head Ash tried to get the images out of his head but to no avail. He could only see it over and over, and lay silent, until the alarm Brock had set the night before went off and the room began to slowly come to life. Brock and Misty were both only getting out of bed by the time Ash had stood up to turn on the lights, much to the chagrin of the other trainers.

"Morning everyone," said Brock, characteristically nonchalant in his tone.

Misty said good morning, then turned to Ash and saw the bags beneath his eyes. "Ash are you alright?" she asked. "You look exhausted."

"I'm OK," said Ash quickly, stretching. "Just a really, really weird dream." He walked back to the bed and picked up Pikachu, scratching the Pokemon behind the ears while Misty went to the bathroom with her backpack and Brock changed into his drab outfit, over which he quickly fitted the segmented armor he'd worn the day before.

"So," said Ash as he got dressed, wanting to talk about anything just to hear another voice. "Is that kind of gear standard issue in Pewter?" he nodded to Brock's attire.

Shaking his head, Brock grinned. "Not hardly," he said. "This was a parting gift from the Elite Four when I left Indigo. I've gotten just a little big for it, but it's still the best I've ever had. You'd never know to look at it, but this armor's been through hell."

"It looks brand new," said Ash.

"That's the idea."

When Misty was ready, the party left the Center, checking out hastily in the predawn hours and walking to the eastern edge of Cerulean. Brock suggested that after crossing the heavily guarded bridge which served as the city's main entrance that they catch the edge of Route 9 and take that path north to Route 24 which should take them to Bill's. Neither Ash nor Misty protested and the course was set. As when they had entered Cerulean, Brock rode atop Onyx while Arcanine carried Ash, Misty, and Pikachu. The strategy was to use the overwhelming presence of the Pokemon to discourage any trouble.

"We still need to be careful," said Misty when the party stopped for breakfast. The sun had just broken over the horizon and flooded the grassy fields, which had years ago overtaken the highway, with warm light. "We may have a nice escort, but these old roads are a breeding ground for bandits and dangerous Pokemon."

"Not to mention we'll be coming up on the eastern edge of the lake here in the next couple of hours," said Brock. "We'll need to be especially cautious there."

Ash finished a mouthful of breakfast and cleared his throat. "What's so bad about the lake?" he asked. "What kind of Pokemon live there?"

"None now," said Misty. "The eastern shore of the lake is a stone's throw from Cerulean Cave's island. Odds are we'll be able to see the island with as close as we'll be to the edge."

"The island and Team Rocket's operation," noted Brock. "If we're lucky they won't have anything on this side of the straight, but I don't think we should count on that. We need to be ready for a fight, and not just from Team Rocket. We could run into all kinds of trouble between here and Bill's place."

Ash agreed and the party quickly finished up their meal, and returned to the road. Three quarters of an hour later, he suggested that it would me much easier to maintain a low profile if Arcanine and Onyx returned to their pokeballs. On that note, Ash, Misty, and Brock paused to put away the large Pokemon and resumed their journey on foot, at a significantly slower pace.

The terrain, which had begun as a grassy field which bore only passing resemblance to a highway had slowly been angling uphill and showing more and more diverse flora. Soon the party was trekking up what might have long ago been the side of a steep hill which had succumbed to heavy erosion, and picking their way between thick bushes the growing underbrush. Here and there trees appeared and before half an hour was up, the trainers were surrounded by what could pass for a sparse forest.

Misty took the lead with neither Brock nor Ash questioning how she knew the terrain as well as she did, leading the party ultimately to a plateau on the edge of which the trees grew nearly as dense as in Viridian Forest. Misty halted at the drop, where the ground abruptly ended in a sheer fall some forty or fifty meters straight down, and motioned for Brock and Ash to join her on the edge.

"There," said Misty, motioning out over the edge. "See that?"

Ash paused for a moment to take in the lay of the land... he shuddered a little, being so near so steep a fall. Looking down the cliff face at his feet, he saw that tree roots as thick as his arm wound in and out of the rocky face, running from top to bottom and ostensibly shielding the structure against erosion. How the trees around him had managed to grow roots so deep into solid rock he could only guess. Before him though, at the bottom of the cliff was a thin stretch of beach, ten meters thick in places, and as shallow as a few feet in others, running between the cliff and the waters of the enormous lake that seemed to stretch to the mountain-framed horizon. Off to the west, Ash saw, was Cerulean, glittering like a gem.

"That's Cerulean Cave," said Brock, following Misty's gaze to what looked like a small mountain that sat as though misplaced and forgotten not far out in the lake.

Ash stared for a moment, and if he squinted and focused, he could make out small figures, people and Pokemon he guessed, moving around on the shallow slopes of the mountain and on the thin beach that encircled it. "Where?" he asked. "I don't see a cave," he clarified.

"About a third of the way up, on that flat stretch of path," Misty said.

Looking for a moment longer, Ash picked out the entrance, a yawning gap in the stone he'd at first taken to be a trick of the shadows. He shivered again, suddenly intensely curious about the cave and wanting to go to it. He almost took a step forward without thinking before he caught himself and shook his head. What am I thinking? he thought, looking down at the cave, the desire fading.

"We should go," said Brock. "It's almost-" He stopped as Pikachu suddenly whirled around beside Ash, fur needling out as the Pokemon began chittering. The trainers quickly turned around, all three instinctively going for pokeballs as several shapes emerged from within the foliage behind them. Four people, all of them dressed in dull clothes that blended in well with the flora walked to within speaking distance of Ash's party. In brilliant white flashes, each of the new arrivals brought his own Pokemon.

"I wouldn't," said the foremost of the group, a large man with a green Mohawk and cloudy grey eyes as Ash's hand darted to Arcanine's pokeball. He went on when Ash, Misty, and Brock, obviously at a tactical disadvantage, hesitated. "I don't know what you folks are doing up here, but I'm only going to give you one chance to go back to the city," he said. "And I'm being generous with that."

Ash cleared his throat. "We're on our way north," he said as steadily as he could, eying the man's companions. A Nidorino, a Wartortle, two Mankey, and Grimer, Ash noted. Shooting glances at both Brock and Misty, both waiting to see what he'd do, he continued. "We don't have any business with you, so how about we all pretend nobody saw anybody?"

"Well mate, that's a rub," said the leader of the gang as his troop snickered amongst themselves. "Cause you see, the Scarlet Jesters here," he motioned to the trainers, "have a cozy little contract. Anyone who comes poking this way gets a nice nap at the bottom of the cliff, that's what Team Rocket says and-"

"Flash!" shouted Ash.

Pikachu leapt forward as Brock, Misty, and Ash all put an arm up in front of their faces. Pikachu exploded in a blinding burst of light that dazzled all of the Scarlet Jesters and stunned their Pokemon. "Thunderbolt," Ash ordered as Pikachu landed. The little Pokemon acted before the order was complete, blasting the enemy Wartortle with a bolt of energy that cracked through the air like a whip.

Misty and Brock both threw out a pokeball in unison, taking full advantage of the instant of confusion. Blastoise and Brock's Golem sprang into existence, glancing around and finding their trainers in an instant. "Tackle," Brock shouted as Misty ordered "Body Slam!"

"Horn Attack!" shouted one of the enemy trainers, blindly ordering and rubbing his eyes. The man's Nidorino, still dazed, fumblingly charged forward towards the first thing to take shape in its muddled vision... which happened to be Misty's charging Blastoise. The Nidorino yelped as Blastoise fell on the Pokemon like an avalanche, smashing it into the ground with a bone crushing slam. Blastoise took aim at the late Pokemon's trainer on Misty's order and blasted the man's leg out from under him with a jet of water that snapped his leg backwards and knocked him screaming to the ground.

Simultaneously, Golem bowled over the overmatched Mankey that stood in his way and stomped the Pokemon underfoot. Brock barked for Golem to finish off the other Mankey and the heavy stone Pokemon roared in acknowledgment, pivoting on the foot currently crushing the first Mankey and grinding the animal further into the ground. The second Mankey, which had started to run in for a Fury Swipes attack, stopped cold and stared up at Golem for only an instant before turning and sprinting back to its trainer, Golem lumbering after it and moving for the Crimson Jester's like a bulldozer.

"Shit," gasped the leader of the gang. "Run for it!" he ordered.

The gang needed no prompting; those members with living Pokemon already recalling them to their pokeballs and turning on their heels to flee. Ash, Misty, and Brock all ordered their Pokemon not to give chase.

"Hey wait!" shouted the gang member whose leg Blastoise had shattered. "Where are you fuckers going?" he screamed, trying to pull himself along the ground after them as Brock quickly walked up to the crippled man. Brock reached down and grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him into the air like he was a toy.

Brock gave the man one solid shake to get his attention, then lifted him completely off his feet. "You picked the wrong people to jump," said the Gym Leader as the man whimpered in fear and pain, his eyes darting between his dead Nidorino, Brock, and the other Pokemon. "Now you're not going to give me any trouble are you?" Brock asked, voice unrecognizably dark to both Ash and Misty.

The man trembled and shook his head. "No sir, no sir," he said as Brock carried him towards the other trainers, both of whom just watched. "Please don't kill me!"

"I'm not going to kill you," said Brock, stopping at the edge of the cliff, still holding the man off his feet by his collar. "The fall down the cliff and the sudden stop at the bottom might, but I wont." The prisoner's mouth dropped open and he began to quiver and cry. "Now talk to me," said Brock. "How many of you jokers are in this area and why are you working with Team Rocket?"

I wonder if Brock would really kill him? Ash wondered, thinking that it was almost unfair how outclassed the gang had been. Then again, Brock alone likely would have been more than a match for them.

"I don't know anything," said the man, tears now spilling down his face. "Just don't kill me."

"Wrong answer," said Brock, scowling. "Tell me about your gang before I lose my grip."

"We, we, we,we're just merc-mercenaries," stammered the prisoner. "I'm Jacob and our leader is Jonas and we're just hired knifes. Team Rocket told our boss that there would be a lot of money involved if we helped them so we joined up and tried to help guard some kind of mining camp down at Cerulean Cave."

"And," Brock probed, still holding Jacob over the edge. "What else."

"And it totally wasn't worth it," Jacob said, voice breaking, prompting Ash to notice that the prisoner couldn't be any older than Ash himself. "The things that came out of that cave were totally fucked up, real living breathing nightmares. They killed people and shit you wouldn't believe..." He twitched as Brock's gaze narrowed. "And," he stammered to complete his story, "Jonas told Team Rocket that we were outa here so they told us to make sure nobody came this way."

"Anything else you think I should know?" asked Brock.

"No sir," whimpered the young man. "I don't wanna die. That's all I know. I swear."

Brock turned slowly, iron grip on the prisoner staying strong as he move Jacob over solid ground and let him down carefully. "If you start hobbling now you should be able to make it to Cerulean before nightfall."

"Wait!" said the man, reaching out for the party as the party as they turned to leave. "You can't just leave me out here. I'll never make it. Hey!" he shouted after them, face falling when no one even turned around to look at him. "Dammit," the man grumbled, looking around as the foliage all around him seemed to become suddenly very lonely. "Sons of bitches," he cursed, pulling himself up onto his good leg and turning to limp painfully towards the south.

Continuing on to the north for several hours, Misty, Brock, and Ash picked their way through the brush and quickly thickening plant growth. Gradually they turned to the east and began trekking along a thin path barely distinguishable from the overgrown terrain. Along the way they encountered several small Pokemon, Pidgey, Rattata, and several Spearow who all peered out from nests and burrows to stare at the passers by while staying out of their way. More than once a curious Rattata even wandered up behind the party, undoubtedly smelling the food they carried with them, and hiding in the bushes whenever they turned around to look at it.

"Friendly little thing," said Ash, stopping in the path to pick a handful of small berries from a branch. He tossed them to the ground in front of the rodent who had again emerged from the brush to tail the party. "I've never met a Rattata that didn't try to kill me."

"This part of the region doesn't have much of a human presence," said Misty, watching as the Rattata quickly sniffed the berries and hurriedly ate them before something else could jump from the bushes to do so. "Most Pokemon out here won't have had any interaction with humans at all."

"Doesn't mean they aren't wild," said Brock, stopping to check the position of the sun overhead and quickly look over the map. He stole a look over his shoulder just in time to see the Rattata dart back into the bushes, and he grinned. "Bill's place shouldn't be too much farther," he said. "Maybe half an hour more if we make decent time, so we should probably keep moving."

Ash and Misty both agreed and set off again, one tailgating rodent short much to Pikachu's relief. As they walked, Ash's thoughts wandered back to the previous day and he found the doubt planted in his mind by Kasumi returning. He tried to picture Misty as a cold blooded murderer and to his horror the image came easily. Why, he wasn't certain. It just seemed to fit for one reason or another. Either way, he reasoned, shaking the thoughts from his mind as the party walked in silence, whether Misty worked for Team Rocket or not, it doesn't matter now. She's on the right side, he told himself. Kasumi didn't give me a damn shred of evidence to prove what she said, and that, to Ash, was the end of the matter.

"Looks like the place," said Brock as the party broke through the tree line and out into a small clearing, almost the whole area of which was taken up be a squat structure resembling the foundation of a building more than a proper structure itself. The giant concrete slab, Ash guessed, was more the roof or protective shield of whatever was built underneath, as the top of the slab was barely higher than Ash's head.

"Now how do we get in?" asked Ash, quickly surveying the structure and failing to spot a door, or any distinguishing feature at all really. "I'm not seeing a way in," he reached up and pulled himself up to the top of the slab and scanned, again unsuccessfully for an entrance. "I think maybe-" Ash stopped in mid sentence with a yelp of pain as something slammed into his chest like a sledgehammer and knocked him off the slab.

Misty gasped. "Ash!" she yelled, running to him as the trainer landed hard on his back with a thud. "What's this?" She looked down at the sticky black goop, hissing and sizzling on Ash's chest.

"Don't touch it!" Brock shouted, dropping to his knees beside Ash and batting Misty's hands away. "We're under attack!" Brock's hands worked furiously to undo the buckles holding the wheezing Ash's breastplate in place and he jerked the armor away from the trainer, snapping one of the buckles and splattering the black goop across the grass which instantly wilted and died.

"Acid," Brock muttered, the side of his face flashing white as Misty released Blastoise and Starmie from their pokeballs. Brock whirled to his feet, grabbing Ash's wrist and pulling the trainer up as both men tossed pokeballs into the air. Pikachu's fur needled out and his cheeks sparked as Golem and Arcanine both appeared in bright flashes of light. The orange canine spotted Ash's condition and was instantly on alert, eyes alight with fire and whole body trembling with a growl. The ever cool and collected Golem looked to Brock for instructions, and the trainer positioned himself between the boulder of a Pokemon and the concrete slab.

Likewise, Misty and Ash took defensive positions behind their Pokemon, backs to the wall and watching for trouble. The whole forest seemed to have gone deathly silent. Not a single bird sang and nothing in the grass so much as twitched. Even the wind was dead and Ash felt the familiar rush of adrenaline sharpening his senses and heightening his awareness... torture when there was no obvious threat of which to be aware.

Brock put one hand on Golem's shoulder, quickly garnering the Pokemon's attention then turned to his left, walking slowly behind the moving shield of the Pokemon to scout around. When they reached the corner of the slab, leaving Misty and Ash side by side, Brock snaked around the corner and disappeared with Golem, moving as silently as a cat. Ash felt his chest tighten. This was intolerable. Something is going to happen, his mind told him over and over again. Move damn it move, the words came to him from nothing.

Ducking by reflex alone, Ash twitched as he heard the deafening snap mere inches above his head. He looked up as Misty and the Pokemon turned, seeing the enormous purple snake that had almost snapped off his head. Arcanine roared and the Arbok slithered, seeming to disappear instantly, back on top of the slab as silently as it had ambushed the trainer. A jet of flame loosed from Arcanine's maw chased after the Arbok as Arcanine leapt after the snake.

Misty looked down at Ash in shock. "How?" she muttered, stopping and turning to the forest. "Never mind. Look-" a wave of black mist, so dense as to obscure everything beneath waist level, rolled from between the trees and washed over Misty's legs and covered Ash up to his neck. Hopping to his feet and locking his jaw in pain, Ash swore and turned to claw his way atop the slab as Misty did likewise, her bare legs enveloped in a burning that made her eyes water.

"The hell was that?" Ash wheezed, his lungs burning.

"Tell me you didn't breathe it," Misty turned on him. "You didn't?"

"Only a little," said Ash, turning as the flash of fire to his left drew his attention. "Arcanine," he called, the words seeming to fight for their freedom from his throat. He saw his Pokemon locked in a duel with the Arbok, a terrifying serpent no less that fifteen feet long with a flared hood and a jaw filled with wickedly sharp fangs. "Fire Spin," he gasped, nausea and fatigue dropping him to his knees where he vomited.

"Shit," Misty hissed as Starmie appeared beside her and Blastoise, seeing Brock and something else move in the forest, barreled off into the trees. "Ash breathe, just breathe," she barked as Ash dropped to one shoulder, every muscle in his body seeming to lock up against his will. "Fuck, Ash breathe!" She took his hand and rolled him onto his back, watching helplessly as his lips and the skin around his eyes turned a peppery black.

A whirling jet of flame exploded from Arcanine and, as if alive with a will of its own, snaked around the Arbok and tightened around it like a cracking lasso. Arcanine set its sights on the Pokemon's throat as the snake wrenched back, skin burning under the fiery bonds, and Arcanine bolted forward, leaping with jaws open, ready to tear the Arbok asunder, but froze and hung in the air. An envelope of blue light wrapped around Arcanine and held him still. Ash, fighting with herculean effort against the poison which tried to paralyze his lungs, saw a pair of glowing blue eyes in the trees behind Arbok, eyes sparking with energy rolling off the Golduck.

Ash raised one hand to point and Misty quickly caught sight of the Golduck. "Starmie, Double Edge!" she yelled. Starmie, buzzing through the air with familiar ease slammed into the Golduck and smashed both Pokemon into the ground.

Immediately the blue energy around Arcanine faded and the raging canine continued through the air as though he'd never stopped. He smashed into the Arbok and sank his teeth deep into the Pokemon's torso, shaking and tearing, drawing blood and knocking Arbok back against the slab. The fiery restraints vanished as Arcanine attacked and a wildly hissing serpent coiled around Arcanine, trying to crush him. Arcanine's response was to bit even harder, threatening to snap Arbok in two, and to kick ferociously with his free back legs, tearing into Arbok's hide.

The serpent hissed in pain, but its sheer bulk allowed it to absorb the damage as it crushed down on Arcanine, constricting and trying to squeeze the life out of the canine. Starmie likewise was having a difficult time. Dueling with the Golduck was taxing the Pokemon's ability to dodge the psychic bolts the Golduck could throw out at will. Ash watched it all with increasing fatigue blackening the edges of his vision. Every breath was harder than the last and before long he realized that he couldn't hear Misty's voice, or anything for that matter. His world had gone silent, and as Arcanine broke free of Arbok's grip and loosed another blast of flame, Ash's world faded to black.

SC

Ash came to several moments later, a rush of air filling his lungs as his eyes opened. He saw the sky overhead and Misty above him, still squeezing his hand and looking off somewhere to his right. There was near panic in her eyes and as Ash followed her gaze he could see why. Arcanine was bloodied and bruised, still dueling the Arbok, though the serpent now bore numerous deep lesions and gashes in its hide, but Golduck and Starmie's duel was not going well.

An enormous writhing plant had appeared on the scene, directed by a man with blue hair. The Victreebel was lashing at Starmie with razor sharp vines that were connecting too often and inflicting too much damage. Starmie was slowing and becoming an easier target for Golduck. James? Ash realized, recognizing the man and spotting the hovering Weezing behind the Rocket Agent. So Team Rocket is behind this...

Straining against the burning in his muscles, Ash reached behind his back and gripped the handle of his heavy Tungsten knife. He drew it slowly as to not draw any attention, not even from Misty, and gauged the distance between himself and James. Fifteen meters... he thought, gripping the knife by its spine and feeling out the blade's proportionally tremendous weight, a long shot...

Ash heaved himself forward, making misty gasp in surprise, and flung his arm down over his head, releasing the knife the instant he felt he should. The blade tumbled through the air twice, far too fast Ash thought for something so heavy, before James caught the glint and turned. The man's eyebrows rose up his forehead as he processed what was happening, but he could only watch, time seeming to slow, as the point of the knife raced towards his throat and the blade sliced through the side of his neck in a flash.

Red blood pulsing from the wound, James's face went blank as he dropped to his knees and reached up with both hands to cover the wound, applying as much pressure as he could. James met Ash's icy glare and the two stared at each other for only a second, before the badly wounded agent turned and took a long stride into the forest, hobbling out of sight behind a tree. Ash dropped back exhausted as, without their trainer, the Golduck and Victreebel quickly fell apart and were forced to retreat into the woods. Arbok likewise turned away from Arcanine as a biting voice in the trees shouted "Return!"

"Ash!" Misty yelped. "You're alive!" Joy quickly washed over her face as she looked down at him when Ash leaned back and rested his head on the slab of concrete. "I thought... How did you do that? The toxin..."

"Guess," said Ash, his lungs still burning, though the air came easier now, "my system managed to work it out. You alright?"

Misty nodded as Starmie returned to her, and Arcanine quickly knelt down by Ash. The canine pressed his cold nose against Ash's face and the trainer reached up to stroke the Pokemon's scratched up face. "We're alive," he said. "And I guess we can say for sure that James is more than Team Rocket's PR man."

"You knew him?" asked Misty as Brock, Blastoise, and Golem came out of the forest and quickly joined Ash and Misty.

Ash nodded. "I met him and some girl named Jesse in Viridian. They tried to recruit me."

"Jesse," said Brock, "didn't happen to have long red hair and a really bad temper?"

"I don't know about the temper," said Ash. "But that sounds about right."

"I think she was working with this James character," said Brock. "At least she was out in the woods and trying to kill me. If not for Onyx, her Charizard would have ended us."

"A Charizard," Ash muttered. "Wow..."

All three trainers and their Pokemon turned as some electronic voice called from behind them. "Hey, hey you three," said the voice which they realized was coming from a speaker set inconspicuously in the slab. "Not working for Team Rocket so not here to steal research so come in come in," it rattled off as a seam appeared in the concrete and several steps slid downward with thud after thud, revealing a staircase. "Hurry before they come back."

Brock helped Ash to his feet and the trainers returned their Pokemon to their pokeballs. "Where's," Ash began, looking around and spotting Pikachu in Misty's arms, apparently unconscious, "Pikachu?"

Misty looked up at him. "Pikachu is alright for now," she said. "He got a dose of the same poison that put you down. But he's going to need treatment."

"Can take care of that," said the voice, irritation plain in its tone. "Now come in come in."

The party quickly made their way down the stairs and through the open door at the bottom. Finding themselves in another stairwell the steel door shut behind them automatically and locked in place as the sound of the stairs outside sliding back up into position echoed in the room. "I guess we go this way," said Brock, taking the circular stairwell down two, maybe three stories to the bottom landing, followed by Ash and Misty. Through another heavy door that had to be opened remotely, the party entered a large open warehouse that Ash felt was almost identical to Oak's lab back in Pallet. Machines as tall as a person beeped and flickered, florescent lights overhead buzzed, and from the middle of it all emerged a short man in a lab coat to greet the trainers.

"Good good, you're here which means that Oak sent you so you have the Pokedex and all that's needed is for me to activate it," said the man so quickly Ash wondered if he had to breathe. "I'm Bill but you knew that now where's the Pokedex?" said Bill, extending one excessively pale hand and reaching up with his free hand to rearrange his thick glasses.

"Oh," said Ash, kneeling and pulling his pack around front. He produced Oak's package and handed it to Bill. "All yours, now can you-"

"Thank you now please excuse while I work feel free to make yourselves comfortable if there's a place to sit," said Bill, turning around and starting to walk off.

"Wait," said Ash, catching Bill by the coat sleeve. "My Pikachu's been poisoned. He needs help."

Bill turned around and saw Pikachu, then walked forward and moved his face close to the Pokemon, a little too close to her chest for Misty's comfort, though she said nothing. "Hmm, yes most likely Weezing toxin very deadly and normally fatal but good thing you're here so I can administer antidote." He turned to Ash. "Looks like you might need a dose also, speckled lips sign of potential nerve damage wouldn't want to suffer later." He paused for a breath, then went on, "Some highly evolved individuals have extraordinary constitution and suppress effects of toxin allowing for escape from danger, doesn't prevent all damage to vital systems though. Come."

Turning around and motioning for them to follow, Bill walked deeper into the laboratory, trainers in tow. Misty leaned over to Ash and whispered, "Is this guy for real?" Ash could only shrug. He'd never actually met Bill and only knew what Professor Oak had said of him over the years. Reaching an alcove in the machinery, Bill opened a glass cabinet and took out a small plastic syringe. Without any hesitation at all he stuck Ash in his exposed forearm and pushed the plunger.

"Hey ow," said Ash, twitching but not withdrawing from the injection. "What was that?"

"Anti-toxin, don't worry, very low chance for negative reaction." Bill turned to Pikachu and injected him with the same syringe. "Originally intended to counter brain hemorrhaging induced by psychic attacks but proved much more effective at repairing damage done by neuro-toxins," he breathed in sharply through his aquiline nose. "Not sure why, but you should recover fully. Chance of slight nausea and-" Bill paused as Pikachu twitched and threw up down the front of Misty's shirt, "little else," he finished.

"God..." Misty sighed as Pikachu made a burping noise and opened his eyes and looked around, confused. "Glad you're feeling better," she muttered.

"Guest rooms somewhere that way," Bill waved off behind him. "Now busy, busy before you arrived, more so than ever now. I'll bring it when the Pokedex is finished." Bill turned and began to walk off, waving Ash off when the young trainer tried to get his attention. "Busy," Bill repeated, disappearing behind a corner.

Pausing for a moment, Ash couldn't help but wonder if he was simply dreaming that he'd met the famous Bill. This entity seemed like a character from a B-grade movie, not the genius who had helped Professor Oak carve the frontier out of the 'untamable' wilds. "Well," Ash turned around to Misty and Brock, "I guess there's not much of a point standing here."

"Bill mentioned guest rooms," said Brock, prompting the party to launch a search. Several minutes, and dozens of dead ends in the maze of machinery, later they came upon a comfortable sitting area with a few armless chairs set next to each other to form what could reasonably pass for a sofa, a rug, and a small bed that had long since outlived its usefulness. The party elected to wait here, Brock sitting comfortably on the floor while Ash and Misty sat on the chairs.

"So you ran into Jesse?" asked Ash, striking up a conversation with Brock.

The Gym Leader nodded and quickly filled Ash and Misty in on the details of his fight with the Rocket Agent. Apparently Jesse was skilled enough to control a Charizard, a Machoke, and a Venasaur simultaneously, a combination that was devastating against Brock's Golem, even aided as it was by Blastoise. In the end only Onyx had averted disaster, being nearly immune to Charizard's attacks, too big for Machoke, and more than a match in brute strength for Venasaur.

Given that Misty was the one conscious for most of it, Ash suggested that she be the one to bring Brock up to speed on their end. Though his head was clear now, Ash could remember very little about their fight with James, barely recalling that he'd ended it with a well aimed knife. I'll need to find that when we leave, he thought as Misty wrapped up her rendition of events.

"Impressive," said Brock, looking at Ash. "Poisoned, barely lucid, and you still managed to turn a losing fight around."

Ash raised his shoulders and let them fall. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Still," said Brock. "Good work, you too Misty. We all did well."

"Indeed indeed," said Bill, coming from nowhere and holding a large package wrapped in brown paper. "Glad you've made yourselves comfortable. Hope my bedroom isn't too messy for you but I don't entertain." He turned to Ash. "Noticed you and female companion lack proper defensive measures, rundown armor won't work out here, no doubt a parting gift from Oak, cheapskate, always was." He took another quick breath and handed Ash the weighty package. "Hope these fit," he said. "I only have two, but the second male looks protected enough as is."

Ash took the package, a box about two feet by two feet by one foot, and set it down. "Thank you. How's the Pokedex coming?"

"Not nearly done yet," said Bill with a bitter sigh. He paused for a second and ran a hand through his thick grey hair. "Unit sustained considerable damage, would guess someone threw it off a cliff if didn't know better. Still, presents opportunity for improvement over previous model now. Should be ready by morning, maybe. Anyway, feel free to go anywhere but out." Bill turned and left as quickly as he'd arrived, leaving the party without a clue as to what was going on.

"Well," said Misty. "What's in the box?"

Setting it on the makeshift sofa, Ash quickly opened the package and began setting out the contents. "Body armor," he said, holding up a black vest with a heavy duty zipper running down the front, "the really nice kind."

Pleasantly surprised to find that the armor fit both of them reasonably well, Ash and Misty quickly tried it on, finding that it easily fit over their casual clothes, but tightened up via Velcro, buckles, and straps as to not hang loose. The vests were built from semi-fused hardened plastic scales, though from the weight, Ash guessed there was more to the armor than just the top layer and the soft underlay. The guards afforded to the arms and legs looked on the surface to be composed of the same scales which made up the breastplates, though Ash quickly noted that a layer of extremely dense fibers made up the gauntlets' backings.

"Hey, this doesn't look half bad," said Misty, turning and twisting to admire herself. "It's a little big, but not completely bulky and ugly. I'm not a huge fan of solid black, but this isn't bad at all."

Ash synched up the last buckle, tightening the gauntlet against his arm. "I like the mobility," he said, jumping in place a little and testing out his range of motion. "I could get used to this."

"This wasn't cheap," said Brock, looking over Ash and Misty. "I'll bet the Elite Four wouldn't scoff at these. Bill sure is generous, just giving these away."

Ash grinned a little. "Well, think about it. He's working with my grandfather on cataloging every Pokemon out there. That's dangerous work and he can't do it himself, but we can, so there's no reason for him not to outfit us with the best gear, right?"

Nodding, Brock crossed his arms. "True true," he said. "But as soon as he gets the Pokedex up and running I think we should move out again. We don't need to hang around, hiding in a bunker while Team Rocket looks for ways to get at us."

Misty quickly agreed. "Though with James as wounded as he is," she said, "if not dead, we probably have till morning at least. Still, there's no need to be careless."

Spending the rest of the day venturing out into the lab and exploring, the party found what they guessed to be Bill's interpretation of 'guest rooms.' The small hideaway in one corner of the warehouse of a lab was only slightly larger than Bill's bedroom, though here at least there were blankets spread out on the floor, and a filing cabinet doubling as a stand for a coffee maker. While Brock and Misty decided to stay behind and rest up, Ash elected to explore the lab some more and look for Bill. After a solid twenty minutes of turning this way and that, running into dead ends, and wondering how in the world Bill navigated such a place, Ash finally came upon a larger open area, in which Bill sat at a squat metal bench which sported dozens of little tools and gadgets.

"Professor," said Ash, walking up behind Bill and stepping to the side. "Do you have a minute?"

"Very good Ash," said Bill, turning away from his project, which Ash saw was the Pokedex. "Hoped you'd come alone at some point. Need to speak. Don't know the others."

"I'll vouch for them," said Ash, taking a seat on a stool beside Bill. "I have a few questions."

"By all means," said Bill with a smile. He turned back to the Pokedex, picking up two small probes and poking around the inner workings of the device. "Ask. Speak speak. And not that I don't trust the others. Information just need-to-know."

"Have you seen my grandfather?" Ash asked.

"Many times," Bill said quickly. "None recent though. Expected him after Pallet destroyed but never came. Very sorry about home. Imagine it's difficult. You're strong though. Stronger than most. But no, haven't seen Oak in many months – No – year. What else?"

Ash paused, leaning against the bench for a moment, watching Bill work. "Actually, that was about it," he said, his mind wandering, despite his best efforts, back to Pallet. He quickly made himself focus on the present. "I guess I'd just hoped the he'd be here or something, waiting for us."

"If he was coming here there would have been no reason to send you," said Bill. "Shows a lot of trust on his part. Not the Oak I knew, never trusted anyone, either of us and it kept both of us alive." He breathed sharply again. "Except you, star pupil. Never shut up about you, very annoying but good that you were turning out so well, better than any of us hoped."

"Yeah," said Ash with a grin. "Grandpa told me several times that I was a quick learner. He said once that he was going to run out of things to teach me." Ash stopped for a second. "Wait," he went on, raising an eyebrow. "What did you just say?"

"Better than any of us hoped?" Bill quoted himself, speaking almost too quickly to be understood.

Ash nodded and Bill smirked to himself.

"Expected you to catch that. Oak would disagree but he's not here and I always said it would be better if you knew." Bill seemed to focus all of his attention on the Pokedex, leaning in and staring at it as he spoke to Ash. "Oak thought, and rightly so it seems, that Ash Ketchum, just like his father, would grow up to be a savant, an expert, one of the few humans truly in-sync with the natural world, truly capable of bonding with Pokemon on a subconscious level." Bill paused and looked up at Ash with a huge grin.

Sitting dumbly for a second, Ash tilted his head in curiosity. "Wait, what?" he said. "Back up and explain that to me again. Savant?"

"Heh," Bill sighed, shaking his head and going back to the Pokedex. "Like trying to tell a fish it's a shark, true but only in so many senses," he said. "All life evolves in response to its surroundings," Bill began, speaking quickly. "Full explanation would take long time, but savant is a human that is more evolved than other humans. Savants typically come from families with a deep history of Pokemon trainers, why we're not sure, so Oak and I tried to study the effects Pokemon and humans have on each other many years ago. When research produced no viable results, we began studying Pokemon only.

"In the process though, we did discover that being around Pokemon physically alters humans. Best examples are the Psychics of Saffron who spent whole generations training with Psychic Pokemon and eventually became Psychic themselves, more powerful than most Psychic Pokemon in some isolated cases. Same can be seen with some Ghost Pokemon. What few trainers who train ghosts tend to have an ethereal empathy, they see into the plane on which ghosts live and feel the ethereal resonance produced by even the slightest emotion of sapient being. There are numerous examples, the bug maniacs who have adapted to eat liquified flesh, many trainers of the southern sea who've adapted to swim as well as fish, some can even hold breath for hours, absorbing oxygen through skin, but all of these are lesser examples, not true savant, only adaptations, only reflections of savant, if you will. Not like you and Ketchum Sr."

"Hold on," Ash interrupted, raising his hands. "This is a little much..."

"Of course of course," said Bill, grabbing a small device which he set in the open shell of the Pokedex and soldered into place. "Much information, a library's worth compressed into a single run-on sentence. A few minutes and I'll expound..."

Ash rested his elbows on his knees and set his hands together in front of his mouth, leaning forward as he listened and Bill elaborated on the subject. As near as the young trainer could synthesize, nature forces life to evolve, and Pokemon being reflections of nature in varying degrees naturally force humans to grow into beings that Bill referred to as 'adapted people,' and that these people were very often incredibly in tune with the Pokemon to whose presence they had adapted.

"Most gym leaders are Adapted People," said Bill hastily, "which is why most gyms focus only on one maybe two types of Pokemon to the exclusion of all others, despite the obvious weaknesses of such a strategy... it's all they can connect with, which is why these people are only adaptations, not true savants, who don't adapt to situations on a case-by-case basis, but rather have adapted to nature as a whole."

"Professor," Ash interrupted. "I'm starting to understand what you're saying, maybe, but you've got to understand that this sounds crazy." Bill waited as Ash went on. "I mean, you're saying you believe that Pokemon, what... change human DNA?"

"Not actively, not at all," said Bill, quickly shaking his head. "Rather, human DNA changes in response to presence of Pokemon. Process is normally slow, though some people are naturally inclined to these changes."

"And you can prove this?" Ash asked, incredulous. "You have data to prove all this is actually a change in a person's genes and not just training or practice or something?"

Bill again quickly nodded his head up and down. "Yes, blood samples tissue samples, fluid samples from numerous sources, both adapted and otherwise, show subtle but definite changes in gene coding of normal people versus savants. Comparisons of samples collected from multiple generations confirm theory. Compared data from trainers from Saffron to genes of Ketchum Sr to data from normal people with minimal Pokemon contact over and over and over. The differences are very slight, less than one tenth of one tenth of a percent, but they are there for sure."

Ash paused as Bill fell quiet to let the young trainer process. "So," began Ash, "You're saying that you have proof that humans, real people, undergo real physical changes in response to being around Pokemon, and that these 'savants' are people who have just evolved to be super in tune with nature and Pokemon..."

"In an oversimplified nutshell, yes," said Bill. "Savants are geniuses of survival, geniuses with Pokemon, people who simply know what to do without knowing why they know."

Ash was a little struck by the comment. "I do get weirdly lucky," he said, as much to himself as to Bill.

"Not luck," Bill corrected in an instant. "Never luck, rather a misunderstood understanding. Your father was a Savant, a true one, someone who did not adapt to nature but evolved. He saw the world in ways the normal mind could never fathom, in ways he didn't understand. Oak and I never told him what he was but we both knew. He simply understood nature, understood Pokemon like child understands the sun rising and setting... not superfluous hows or whys, only that. Moreover nature understood him, Pokemon understood him, mutual understanding which resulted in Ketchum's simply knowing what would work and what wouldn't. Gave him an edge, kept him alive."

"I never really knew my dad," said Ash, a small grin twitching across his face as he recalled some of his earliest memories. "I saw him when I was tiny, but he left."

"Doesn't matter," said Bill. "Your father was a savant and so are you. Simple. Genetic now. Don't know why but why doesn't matter. Only that. There are still aspects of theory that are up in the air, but the basics are clear."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Ash asked, clearing his throat.

Whipping around, Bill turned on him, eyes lighting up, suddenly ignoring the Pokedex. "Why? Why? Is this a question? Because you need to know. You need to understand that your knowing things isn't dumb luck, it's not a fluke, it is human evolution at the most advanced level and the most basic level. You need to know because you need to trust those little thoughts that come to your mind from nowhere. It's why you're still alive. And we need you alive." Bill's gaze narrowed. "But we also need you to not tell anyone. Deal?"

Ash sat back, a pang of cold shooting through him. "Professor," he said, cracking a nervous grin. "You're starting to sound a little crazy." Crazier... he thought.

Bill shook his head. "World isn't ready. Individual mind can handle the truth, individual mind needs to know the truth, why I told you, but masses are stupid, panicky, dumb. Wouldn't understand. Would be bad for everyone. I told you because you need to know now promise not to tell."

"I won't tell anyone," said Ash, meaning what he said, but wanting to get Bill to settle down more than anything.

"Promise," insisted the Professor.

"I promise I promise," said Ash, mirroring Bill's quickness of speech before slipping back to his old tone. "Sorry, it's just really out there..."

Bill nodded. "Understood. Don't expect you to understand yet if at all. You just need to be aware so you can believe what you will." He turned and closed the Pokedex, then picked it up and handed it to Ash. "Damage less severe than initial estimation," he said more slowly than seemed natural for him. "Recommend you sleep tonight here and I'll point you on your way in the morning."

"Thanks," said Ash, taking the Pokedex and looking over the little red device. "I was planning on heading south from here, back towards Cerulean and from there to Saffron."

"Hm. Not sure I'd recommend that," said Bill. "Saffron in middle of political upheaval right now. Must not watch much news, Saffron Psychics in bitter conflict with both the Fighter's Gym and the City's Council. Fighters recently hired mercenaries who did a lot of damage to the city so outsiders not exactly welcome. Best to let climate cool some. Would suggest you go east to Lavender Town. Fairly safe, if creepy. Lots of death there in past but peaceful now."

"I'll tell the others," said Ash. "We'll probably go that way then."

"Good," said Bill. "Now, need to show you how to use Pokedex..."

SC

"You sure you're going to be OK?" Jesse asked quietly, looking over at James as the hunched, hidden in the undergrowth. Wrapped as they were in camouflaged blankets she could still see the dull grey bandages wrapped around James' neck. Even in the dark her highly trained eyes could see that they were stained brown.

"It will heal," said James, tone level and calm.

"I don't get it," said Jesse, turning her attention back to the entrance to Bill's bunker, twenty meters from their position on the gradual slopes of the heavily wooded hill. Her words seemed to hiss through her teeth. "Ketchum was down, you said. Weezing's toxin is lethal. It's not some pissing little poison gas. One breath will incapacitate anything instantly, and it should have killed him over the next few minutes."

"Calm Jesse," said James, not bothering to look at his partner. "Be patient."

"We should be gassing them out," she retorted. "We should have Arbok burrow down and punch a hole into the facility, and then pump the place full of toxic fumes. Or better yet, we should burrow in and kill them all ourselves."

Looking all around the edges of the base, James took a moment and then stood up. "We're leaving."

"What?" Jesse started to protest. Her mouth snapped shut when James glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Whereto?" she asked, calmer now though the hair on the back of her neck bristled.

"Ketchum and the others are holed up in the bunker. Unless Bill is a complete idiot he'll have escape tunnels that he'll use to get Ketchum away from here. We need to find those if we want to have a chance of intercepting them."

Jesse and James disappeared into the brush, wrapping themselves in the patterned blankets and quickly becoming little more than shadows. "Not that I'm complaining," said Jesse when the pair stopped to examine a plot of raised earth, "but why does command suddenly want us to bring him in?"

"Not sure," said James "I'd imagine it has something to do with what they got out of that police officer we captured in Viridian... Regardless," he paused, fiddling with the heavy blade now hanging at his belt. "I'd like to return this."

SC

"Thanks again for everything," said Ash, giving Bill's hand a shake as the four of them stood in the forest to the southwest.

"I hope you appreciate the drain you've been on my resources," said Bill, stone faced. The Professor watched as Ash's face contorted, then grinned widely and laughed once. "That was a joke," he said. "Anti-toxins, rations, new packs, climbing gear, all materials you need. Happy to provide."

After accepting another round of gratitude from the party, Bill said goodbye and walked back into the inconspicuous cave set in the south side of a hill, and disappeared through the cleverly concealed door therein. Ash, Misty, and Brock turned to the south towards the wilderness and set off, cautious, but confident that, thanks to Bill's elaborate system of tunnels and an early morning start, that their lead on Team Rocket was substantial. By Brock's best guess, they could reach Rock Tunnel, the underground route to Lavender, by early in the afternoon, assuming the nice weather held.

"So how does it work again?" asked Misty once the journey was well underway. She pointed to the Pokedex, glinting red in the morning sun.

Twisting his wrist so she could see, Ash pointed out a small glass node on the extreme edge of the device. "According to Bill," he said, happy to go over it again, if only for his own sake, "I aim this at the Pokemon using an onscreen sight, push the 'scan' button, and from there it's all automatic."

"Idiot-proof," Brock said with a grin. "Maybe that means we actually have a chance on this mission."

Ash laughed and Misty patted him on the back. "He's got a point, you know," she said. "With as often as you fall off cliffs and get eaten by wild Pokemon, it's a good thing the Pokedex is simple and indestructible."

"Yeah yeah," Ash brushed off the jokes and went on. "Anyway, if you're interested, it's more complicated than that. The Pokedex actually fires a small laser that vaporizes a microscopic layer of whatever it hits and scans the makeup of the..." Ash paused to remember the word Bill had used, "particulates. It transmits the data back to Bill, or stores it till it can transmit it, where his computers analyze the Pokemon's makeup and match it to the picture the Pokedex sent with the data."

"Which accomplishes?" Misty probed. "What good does a picture and a paragraph do us? There's got to be more to it than that."

"Bill said he'd take care of the rest," said Ash with a shrug. "I guess when he analyzes the data he'll make sense of it and transmit useful information back to us? Maybe the Pokemon's species if we don't know, it's likely habitats, diet, or something. He did tell me though that I'm supposed to scan every Pokemon I see, whether or not I've met its before... he said it would help build a more complete genetic profile of the species."

"Strengths, weaknesses, and habits would be more useful than diet and gender," said Brock.

"Maybe," Ash granted. "But I don't think there's anyway we could tell all that from a quick sample. It's not like I could point this thing at Pikachu and instantly learn everything there is to know about him. Besides, it's the best we can do right now. I'm sure Bill and my grandfather will improve on it later."

"Great, so there will be a Pokedex for every generation," Brock joked as the party reached a rough path angling to the southeast.

Following the road as it became more and more of a road, the party passed the rest of the day quickly. They met no one on the road, butt passed by some docile, if common Pokemon which Ash readily scanned with the Pokedex. Much to his disappointment, after he sent the data to Bill the display only read 'data stored on internal drive' in bold text. Ash admitted that he'd been hoping for something fancy and insightful.

By early afternoon, as per Brock's prediction, the party was entering the slightly more hilly terrain surrounding the appropriately named Rock Tunnel. Bushes, shrubs, and trees gave way to tall grass and increasingly large piles of rock around which the road was forced to wind. Ash couldn't help but begin to feel uneasy. Looking up at the rocks that were now arching overhead as the party entered a rough valley his mind wandered to how easy it would be to set up some kind of ambush here or how simply one could disappear into these crevices and caves if necessary.

As the sun arched passed its zenith and the trio came nearer and nearer their initial destination, Ash became more and more on edge, prompting him to remember Bill's seemingly farfetched theory about savants. Even though Brock and Misty's spirits were high enough, Ash could swear he smelled death on the air and it unnerved him. He began to look for threats in every shadow, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary quickly wore at his nerves and he even considered suggesting that the party find an alternate route, but he kept his worries to himself.

Paranoia, that's all, he told himself, trying not to think too much about what Bill had said about trusting his feelings.

As the party rounded a bend, Brock turned to Ash, having noted his silence, and looked the young trainer over. "You alright?" he asked. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing," Ash quickly smiled and tried to look normal, though he kept his guard up, fearing the worst. "I was just trying to think of what Lavender would be like. I've never been there."

"Neither have I," said Misty. "I was kinda thinking about the same thing. How about you Brock?"

The Gym Leader shook his head. "Never been out that far. I've heard it's a peaceful little community, though it used to be a whole lot bigger a few decades ago... it's the oldest city in the core if I remember right."

The party rounded another bend in the path, coming upon the base of a small mountain, or perhaps just a very large and malformed boulder, in which was set the entrance to a large tunnel, clearly marked by a signpost as Rock Tunnel. It was not for this that the trainers stopped however, but rather all of the dozens of lean-to's and tents that were clustered all around the base of the entrance, forming a dense shantytown the size of a city block.

"What's all this?" Ash wondered as they cautiously drew nearer to the structures, pokeballs at the ready. By now they could make out the human figures on the outskirts of the tent-city and as the party came closer still, two men, each accompanied by a Growlithe, came out to greet them. It was plain by their dress that these were the guards posted at the station in the tunnel's entrance, guards meant to help protect travelers from wild Pokemon.

Raising a hand and politely greeting the officers, Brock stepped forward. "My name's Brock, I'm the Leader of Pewter Gym. Is there a problem here?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"A Gym Leader," said the taller of the two men, taking off his blue cap and scratching through his scraggly blond hair. "Didn't expect someone like you to go showing up here. Begging pardon sir," he and his partner bowed slightly, showing more than the deference due to a Gym Leader, "but it's been a horrible day, it has. There's something wicked happened in Lavender sir, and frankly we're not equipped to handle it here."

Ash looked around and met the gazes of a few people staring at the new arrivals. They were all dressed well enough, though it looked like none of them had bathed recently. Men stood next to their tents and woman, most with children Ash noticed, sat under a lean-to or next to a tent. No one looked to be in particularly bad shape, though every face was sour or scared, and many were both.

"Tell me what happened," said Brock, crossing his arms. "Maybe we can help."

Great, Ash thought. Brock is going to get us mixed up in this... As soon as the thoughts entered his head, Ash felt he should regret them. He had seen loss, more than most people, but that, he told himself, shouldn't jade him against others in need.

"Well sir, damned if I know," said the tall man, glancing at his partner, a squat sort with a red mustache and little other facial hair. "This morning a whole bunch of people came marching out of Rock Tunnel, dragging their feet and anything they could carry. Most of 'em were just scared witless, but a few... a few were... sick."

Brock raised an eyebrow. "Sick?" he asked quickly, uncrossing his arms and leaning back reflexively. "Did you quarantine everyone showing signs of disease?"

"Sire we did," the officer went on. "We put 'em up in the station we did, but... well I don't know, it's not like any disease I've seen before. We have 'em all in safe-rooms, behind glass if you follow. You should see, I can't explain it."

"Like hell I'm going to walk into a plague house," Misty whispered to Ash.

"It's probably not contagious," said Ash, the words leaving his mouth as soon as they entered his mind. "Well," he stammered as everyone present quickly turned to him. "If people came down with it yesterday and it was contagious then other people would be getting sick with it, right?"

The explanation did little to soothe Misty, but she followed nonetheless as the officers led the party through the tent city and into the small station. As they entered, an old woman dressed in rags stopped the officers and asked if there had been any change in the victims. The officer told her there was none, and then proceeded inside. When Ash asked about the woman, who had seemed collected, easily the calmest person they'd passed in the village, the officer simply called her a crazy old crone.

Near the back of the well lit little structure were the holding cells. The mustached officer mentioned in a gruff monotone that it would be wise not to look if you were weak of constitution, and then the taller man drew back the curtains on the safe rooms.

Misty quickly turned and buried her face in Ash's neck, refusing to look in, while Ash and Brock both stared through the two-way mirror at the people on the other side. "Good god," both trainers muttered in unison. Brock swallowed hard as Ash turned to Misty and silently put his arms around her. "What happened to them?" asked the Gym Leader, horror etched into his face.

"No idea. We think it's some kind of disease," said the taller officer, scratching his scalp and looking into the cells, and quickly turning his eyes away from the people inside. The people lay on the floors or leaned on the walls, eyes screwed shut as lesions an inch deep, seeping black puss, and rimmed in dead-purple flesh twisted across their naked frames. It looked like they were rotting where they stood. "The old crone says the ghosts got to 'em."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Hello everyone, and welcome to installment ten. To everyone who mentioned a certain model of scientist Salarian, yes, I did base Bill off Mordin Solus from Mass Effect II. I was in the process of writing the last chapter, and struggling with characterizing Bill, when I first recruited the good doctor from Omega. Then the light went on... "Brilliant!" I shouted, and Bill was born.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Ten – Final Resting Place

Ash, Brock, Misty, and the two officers had raced from the building when a blood curdling scream ripped through the shantytown outside. In the middle of the ramshackle refugee camp they'd come across the old crone kneeling over a young woman who lay on her back on the ground. The young woman's dirty blouse was torn open, exposing the lesion twisting across her chest down onto her stomach. Ash watched in shock as the lesion lethargically grew before his eyes, like a slowly twisting snake slithering across the woman's pale skin.

"It's outside the quarantine," said the blond officer, wringing his hands in front of him. "We've all been exposed."

"Perhaps," said the crone calmly. "It would certainly appear that way but we can not yet be sure of what we're dealing with." She stood up and turned to Ash and his companions. "You three," she said, straightening up some and sweeping some of the dust from her wrinkled purple dress. "I'm going to Lavender to put this right, and if you have a brain between you, you'll come with me."

"As if," said Misty, crossing her arms. "I say we turn around and get the hell out of here right now, before we come down with this." She paused to look around as her words sent a ripple of murmuring through the gathered crowd. "Ash?" she said, more quietly now. "That's a good call, right?"

"Sure," said the crone. "get out while you can and leave dozens of people to d-" her weathered face twisted in surprise and she bolted forward, far too quickly for someone her age, and grabbed Misty's shoulder, pulling the stunned girl forward and off balance. "Down!" she shouted.

The crowd seemed to undulate with a nervous energy as Ash acting on instinct, threw a pokeball to the ground and released Arcanine with a flash of white light. A freezing chill ran down the trainer's spine, and as the canine materialized with a powerful bark, Ash caught a flash of purple from the corner of his eye. Turning on his heel he saw hanging in the air where Misty had just stood a faint purple cloud, like a dimly luminescent haze. In the second he took to focus on it, Ash perceived a face in the shape, a ghastly visage that snarled at him with a mouth full of fangs and rushed forward as Ash catapulted himself back to the edge of the crowd.

Arcanine materialized in front of his trainer in a burst of wind and dirt, maw open and flashing with fire. Simultaneously, Pikachu crackled with energy from Ash's shoulder and loosed a yellow energy attack. Both the jet of flame and the thunderbolt connected with the apparition and seemed to disperse within its form as though they'd hit something far more substantial than a gas but not quite solid.

With a hissing shriek the vapor dissipated, snarling at Ash again but blowing away in the light breeze. Ash remained were he stood, panting. A cold sweat had broken out across his forehead which he wiped away with the bit of sleeve exposed beneath his bracers. By this point the whole crowd had dispersed, most running away in a panic, some more calmly stepping back to observe, leaving Ash, Misty, Brock, and the old woman more or less alone. The officers had gone after the crowd to try and hold off a riot.

"What the hell was that?" he asked once Ash caught his breath. Glancing at the faces around him, he saw Brock standing rooted to the ground in much the same fashion as Misty. The two trainers looked, for lack of a better word, stunned. It was not fear on their faces but a look of dumb paralysis.

"That," said the crone, clearing her throat and stepping forward, patting Brock and Misty on the back to quickly shake them from their stupor, "was what would be called a 'Ghastly' by most. It's a physical form manipulated by a ghost on this plane. That was fairly nice," she said, voice dry, as the turned to Ash. "You dispatched it in one solid combination of attacks, both of which were one of the rare methods by which a ghost's vaporous form _can_ be hurt."

"Beginner's luck," said Ash. He grinned a little, but still shook uneasily.

"Unfortunately," said the crone. "Neither of us were quick enough to prevent it from infecting your friend." She glanced quickly over at Misty.

"What?" asked the redhead, drawing back, panic shooting across her face. "What are you saying?"

"Your lip," said the crone.

Misty reflexively reached up and covered her mouth. Drawing her hand away she saw red on her palm.

"Oh shit," said Brock. "What can we do," said the Gym Leader to the old woman.

"Guys," said Misty, voice trembling. "What's going on?"

"You can follow me," said the crone. "The only way to save her is to rid this plane of the ghosts causing the plague."

"Guys!" Misty shouted, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," said Ash moving forward and taking Misty's hand. "If I'd been faster..."

"What the hell is going on?!" Misty barked, jerking away.

Clicking as it opened in front of her face, the crone held out a mirror and Misty gasped. "If you want to live, you'll help," said the woman as Misty stared at the tiny black lesion, rimmed in speckled purple flesh, that cut down the center of her bottom lip.

SC

"I should have known Team Rocket was involved somehow..." Brock muttered, the words carrying venomous disdain. "Wherever there's trouble, those bastards are involved."

"Indeed," said the crone, walking side by side with Brock.

Rock Tunnel chilled the party to the core. No one managed to contain their twitching and shivering, and coupled with the threat of drawing unwanted attention, the cold made speech even less appealing. Ash walked close beside Misty, behind Brock, silently holding her hand in his. Pikachu sat atop his trainer's head, glowing only enough to light the ground at Brock's feet, but still giving off enough light to cast eerie shadows on the wall.

After the six nerve wracking hours they'd spent underground, the split in Misty's lip had not grown, though a second lesion had appeared on her cheek and steadily wound down her face. Any attempt to bandage it proved futile as the wound would slowly slither out from beneath the gauze. Ash insisted on at least this much though, and saw to it himself. Misty had barely said a word the entire hike, even when Ash was replacing the bandages on her face.

More than once the party had broken its unmentioned pact of silence to discuss the upcoming excursion into Lavender. The crone, who had refused to divulge her origins or give her name or go by anything other than 'old woman' or 'ma'am' explained in great detail that Team Rocket was indeed involved in the whole affair. Exposing her intimate knowledge of Lavender Town, she told the party of the town's bloody past, and it's present predicament.

"Lavender was the first city founded in this region," she said, "by settlers coming from the east. Given that the settlers had vast resources that they could focus on just one city, the local population was well protected and grew quickly. Over the next several generations the people spread out and founded other cities which became known as the core, but Lavender remained the largest and most prosperous.

"A little over a century ago all of that changed," she continued. "A horde of raiders, slavers, and brigands from the southeast formed a coalition and sacked Lavender. The city's defenses were strong enough to kill many of them, but when the horde broke through and the citizens all fought to defend themselves, a slave-run turned into a bloodbath and all but a few of Lavender's inhabitants were slaughtered.

"Some people say the ghosts of the slain people and Pokemon from both sides rose up to continue the fight during the last hours of the conflict, but nevertheless the slavers were wiped out and Lavender survived... more or less. As many as four hundred thousand citizens were killed, and thousands of slavers died. All of those bodies had to go somewhere, so survivors piled them in buildings in an abandoned and decimated portion of town that has since become known as the Bonegarden. You might have heard of it," she said to the party. "The most famous structure is called Pokemon Tower, which is where most of the slaver's Pokemon were dumped..."

Brock and Ash nodded. "Grandpa mentioned it once," said Ash. "He told me that nothing good ever comes from that place."

The crone nodded. "The Bonegarden was sealed off and ever since, the whole region has become a hotspot for paranormal happenings. There have never been any cases of people being hurt, but plenty of people have been scared witless by apparitions of varying moral alignments."

"So why would Team Rocket have any desire to build a machine in Pokemon Tower to forcibly bring spirits here?" Brock asked. "What would that accomplish?"

"I cannot say," said the crone as a light appeared in the distance ahead, the faint glow of an exit illuminated only by the waxing twilight hours. "Perhaps they're trying to disrupt the psychics in Saffron? Ghosts after all with their very presence disrupt the underlays of reality, making it difficult if not impossible for psychic human's and Pokemon's powers to function. But what that would accomplish I don't know..."

The party stopped at the exit and stared out. "So this is Lavender," said Ash, surveying the scene. He waited for a moment for someone to respond, though no one took the initiative. All four simply looked out into the dense fog that permeated everything before them. Lavender Town had little that could pass for an outskirt, beginning almost as soon as Rock Tunnel ended, even if many, most even, of the buildings appeared ancient and poorly maintained.

Strangely, the fog seemed to obscure Ash's vision equally at all distances. The tall buildings a mile away, the warehouse wall a stone's throw away, and his hand in front of his face, were all equally blurry in the fog, which is to say that he could make out only the rough details of each. The effect disconcerted him to no end and for a moment his head spun, his brain trying to interpret what his eyes were telling him. Misty's hand tightened around his in response to Ash's wavering to one side.

"You alright?" asked the trainer, her speaking disturbing the lesions on her face and making her twitch in pain. Ash only nodded.

"I can't see a goddamned thing," said Brock in a whisper. "It's like looking at a giant snowbank..."

"This complicates things," said the crone. "I hadn't anticipated such thick fog... I could lead us in the general direction of the Bonegarden and Pokemon Tower... but we could wander for hours to locate either one."

Ash glanced at his partners. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Can't you at least see a little?" he paused and all three with him shook their heads. Even Pikachu squeaked a negative response. "Well," Ash said quietly, "I can see, almost." Everyone turned to look at him with differing levels of surprise. "I can make out almost everything between here and those buildings in the distance," he waved his hand to gesture in their direction. "It's blurry though, I can't really explain what I'm seeing."

"It's the fog," said Brock. "It's messing with your eyes."

"Maybe," said the crone before Ash could respond. "But this fog is not natural. It might be affecting the boy in a different way than the rest of us..."

Ash's face flushed with frustration. "We don't have time to wait around," he said, his voice hiding a growl in his tone. "We need to get to Pokemon Tower and destroy whatever it is Team Rocket is building before," he glanced at Misty from the corner of his eye and his stomach turned at the thought of her becoming like those people in the cells, "before it's too late." He swallowed hard when he felt Misty's hand shiver. "Now point me in the direction of the damn tower and I'll get us there," he concluded.

The crone nodded. "Alright," she said, stepping forward into the mist, disappearing as far as Brock and Misty could tell but only becoming blurry to Ash's eyes. Brock stepped forward and stood beside her. "Hey," he said quietly, "once you're inside the bank you can see a little more... only for a few feet, but that's better than nothing."

"Ready?" asked Ash, rubbing Misty's hand with his thumb. She nodded and they both stepped forward. It made Ash sick to think of what she must be experiencing. _I have to end this, for her, _he thought.

"What do you see?" asked the crone quietly once the party determined that they could all see each other if close together, and that Ash could still see most clearly of any of them.

"Nothing," said Ash, studying the surrounding structures. "There's nothing... no bodies, no signs of a fight... not anything other than the buildings."

"Be as silent as possible now," said the crone. "Spirits will know we are here now, but not all of them are malicious. We need to attract as little attention as possible."

With a deep breath, Ash set off, leading the party and describing the surroundings to the crone in little more than whispers. Over the next half an hour the light faded to a faint glow overhead in the mist and the old woman adjusted course only once or twice.

Ash's skin crawled whenever he turned to give her an update, because then he would see his companions, surrounded by the mists, but also by incorporeal hands in the fog, fingers that would waft over their shoulders or faces as if to caress them. Though the scene seemed unnatural and aberrant, Ash 's mind leapt to the conclusion that the figures in the mist meant the party no harm, their interactions being curious. Still, forcing himself to accept this instinct brought little relief. _Maybe these were the spirits of good people,_ he thought, forcing his mind to happier subjects. _Maybe they're even the helpful kind of ghost... if there is such a thing._

Ash said nothing to his companions, as there would be nothing the party could do if they did know, and the ghosts did not seem to bother the trainers or even catch their notice. Ash however went completely numb the first time he saw one of the disembodied hands reach out from the mist to trace its fingers across his neck. The nails left cold sweat rather than blood and Ash nearly fainted, maintaining his pace through sheer force of will. _This is wrong_, he thought. _These things don't belong here... benevolent or not._

Walking on, Ash lead the party with little cues and notes from the old woman. He glanced warily about at all times, watching for any signs of trouble as the specters became more and more common, some even manifesting as floating torsos of mist, complete with limbs of varying shapes. To say he grew comfortable with the situation would be far from the case. To the contrary, as the minutes ticked by, Ash became increasingly more irritated, though not with the ghosts. He had begun to feel, almost, that it was better to be surrounded by the gentle white mists, as if it was a cloak of sorts... even if the specters were terrifying by simple virtue of their existence.

_Harmless, harmless, harmless,_ his mind gasped as a misty and blurred form, a woman with long flowing robes seemed to float forward to him. _Trust your intuition, they're harmless._ He screwed his eyes shut, feeling his nerves explode with an adrenaline fueled buzz. He kept walking, breath freezing in his lungs as his blood went cold at her touch. The apparition opened her arms and embraced him as he walked through her, breaking her form like the mists and banishing the shape to nothingness. Ash couldn't keep his breath from wheezing out as he opened his watering eyes. Misty's warm hand brushing the back of his icy fingers kept him focused. Jaw locked, he walked on.

"We're here," said the crone as Ash stopped the party before an enormous stone arch in an equally enormous stone wall. The entire trip to the gate, the party had seen no signs of battle, and only Ash had seen anything other than still mists, but now, no one missed the heavy iron gates laying torn apart on either side of the arch, or the gibberish scrawled in red all around the arch. "This is the Bonegarden."

Ash cringed again. The mist beyond the portal seemed darker to him, more like smoke than vapor, and it stirred, shifting and shaping in alien shapes.

"Child," said the crone, turning to Ash at the same instant that the young trainer realized he'd begun breathing in quick draws. "What's the matter?"

Ash turned around, words unable to express the gratitude he felt for Misty's hand holding his. He took a moment to steady himself and then spoke. "There's something in there," he muttered. "Something … wrong."

"We've known that since the start," said Brock, the man's voice firm, though Ash caught the undertone of trepidation in his words. "We know there are ghosts here. Somewhere," Brock glanced around as though watching for the spirits.

Ash shook his head and reached up with his free hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. "No," he said, pausing to take another steadying breath. He refocused his attention more on the old woman now. "It's more than that. The whole way here, I've seen them, the ghosts I mean." The old woman raised an eyebrow but allowed Ash to finish. "They've just watched us and circled around us in the mists... I don't know but I've gotten the impression they're watching out for us somehow. When I look in there," he said, nodding to the black mists inside the arch, "that all goes away. I don't feel anything but..." he stopped to search for a word. "Evil."

No one spoke for a long minute, until the crone quietly cleared her throat. "You've some kind of special sight then," she said. "No doubt the spirits you've been seeing are the souls of people who were good and kind in life and took those traits with them. We can guess that you're right, they probably were, if nothing else, concealing our presence from more malicious spirits. Maybe they even divined our purpose and guided us here. That said, if your instincts are to be trusted, then we'll find little such protection in the Bonegarden."

"Then we need to move," said Brock. "Get in, destroy the machine, get out."

"Our one advantage," said the old woman, "once we're out from under the cover of these more friendly souls," she waved her hand through the air, "is that to harm us with anything but their slow-acting plague, the ghosts will have to take some physical form, a form we can destroy," she drew from the folds of her dress, a single pokeball. "I can hold my own, but I won't be able to ferry us there. You three will have to fight."

Ash, Brock, and Misty all nodded. "We can do that," said Ash. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Whenever you're ready."

The old woman grinned just a little. "I will lead us to the tower. The machine will be on the top level and difficult to miss. If we simply destroy it, then all this should be put right... the ghosts' influences vanishing with them. Pokemon Tower will be the largest structure in that direction," said the old woman, gesturing to the east. Ash nodded when he saw it. With that, she turned to the arch, and the party walked forward under the massive stones. Ash cringed, but again Misty's warm hand kept him on track.

Inside, Ash wondered for a moment if he'd gone partially blind. His world seemed to go dark for a moment, then slowly come back into focus, dimmed as if he were standing in a smoky building. Still Ash could see with equal clarity at all distances, though the sudden change in perspective made him shudder and wince. He looked around to get a feel for his surroundings and quickly focused on Pokemon Tower. Perhaps as a trick of the mists, the building now appeared much closer, perhaps only eight or nine blocks away, and as Ash's gaze scaled the side of the tower, the darkness seemed to thicken and swirl in sheets of smoke around the building. The pinnacle of the structure was completely entombed in black, only an occasional flash of internal red light breaking the uniform hue. Only empty streets stood between the party and the tower.

"Wow," whispered Brock, holding his hand in front of his face. "This is weird."

"What do you see?" asked Ash.

"More than before," said the Gym Leader. "The fog just got thinner but it's..."

"Like being inside of a thunderhead," said Misty. "There are little flashes of red light," she said as Ash and the crone lead the party down a rubble-encrusted sidewalk. The small rocks and gravely mixture of sand and crushed mortar crunched under their feet. Every step grated on Ash's nerves. The sound of the sediment underfoot seemed deafeningly loud in his ears, ringing like thunder under his boots. He stole glances at the others, but they seemed unaffected by the noise. Every step seemed slower as Ash made himself look elsewhere, trying to block the sound out of his mind, sweat breaking out on his forehead. He scanned black windows and empty doorways, blasted out walls and caved in corners, but saw nothing but the black and shifting mists.

_Where is it?_ Ash found himself wondering why nothing had sprung at him from the darkness. He watched with a twisting stomach each shaded corner and window, just waiting with senses sharpened to a knife's edge for the inevitable ambush, when the monsters would pour from every nook and cranny to attack. He found himself wanting the watchers he knew were all around to leap from their posts. No clashing din of a fight could be worse than the windless city and the gravel under his boots. No horrible sight, he told himself, could be worse than the empty buildings that rose up all around... even if he knew they weren't really empty. _Where are you?_ His mind wanted to scream the question. He could almost see the figures hiding around bends and inside the blackness at the ends of the alleys. He could all but hear the faint breathing, though it all remained just beyond the edges of what he could sense.

"Ash," Misty whispered after they'd gone a block and a half. He turned to her, holding his breath , unable to respond. "You're hurting my hand."

Ash looked down, realizing after a second's pause that his hand was locked around Misty's in an iron fisted grip. "Sorry," he whispered quickly, the paranoia inflaming his nerves beginning to ebb from the front of his mind. He wiped the back of his arm across his forehead and glanced around. The shadows seemed no less dark, but the specters hiding in their reaches must have fled while he wasn't watching them. "This place is getting to me..." He trembled once, unable to believe how briefly he'd been in the Bonegarden.

Misty smiled just a little bit as the party paused and the crone looked out ahead. "I'm here for you," said the trainer, ignoring the obviously irked glances from the old woman who plainly wanted to keep walking.

Ash couldn't stop the smile from tugging up at his lip. "Thanks," he said. Some semblance of calm seemed to radiate from her words, almost going so far as to block out the sound of the gravel crunching beneath their feet.

_Why is the dirt still still making that noise? _he wondered.

Looking down towards his feet, Ash stared, transfixed for a split second as he tried to interpret what he saw. The ground shifted almost invisibly, as if a layer of fine rubble spread over a tarp echoed the movements of something moving beneath the tarp, something big. _Oh,_ he thought, as if he had missed something obvious, just before panic caught up and chaos erupted.

All at the same time, Ash threw himself forward and tackled Misty to the ground, Brock vaulted backwards as the ground at his feet exploded up in a spray of dust, and a thunderous boom reverberated off the walls of the surrounding buildings as a great dark limb tore up through the ground where Ash and Misty had just stood. Brock cursed as he landed hard on his back, looking up at a pair of huge arms tearing up through the ground on either side of the scattered party.

A flash of white light and a jet of flame announced Arcanine's presence as the young trainer and Misty climbed to their feet. Arcanine seemed to read Ash's mind and raced to position himself between the trainers and the ten foot long arm as a plated shoulder followed the clawed appendage and rose out of the rubble. Through the dust and floating debris, and over the sudden roar of wind and the screeching of a beast, Ash could neither hear nor see whatever attacked the party. He could only grab hold of the scruff of Arcanine's neck with one hand and wrap his free arm around Misty's waist as the fiery Pokemon leapt forward, carrying both trainers a dozen meters from the action.

Whatever it was inside the cloud of dust shrieked again and threw its colossal form into the side of a building, shattering the superstructure and bringing down the stone walls in yet another flurry of dust and collapsing debris. Ash shielded his face from the rush of wind as Misty loosed Blastoise and Starmie from their pokeballs. After another white burst of light from within the cloud, Onyx's scarred form, Brock riding along, came slithering out of the dust followed promptly by a Golbat carrying the old woman. The enormous bat flapped its wings once and rose higher into the sky, the crone throwing out another pokeball which loosed a hissing Arbok.

"You three!" shouted the old woman, "keep your distances! This is out of-" Her Golbat swooped to the side as a clawed hand slashed out of the dust cloud at her, passing inches from Golbat's wing. The gigantic shape which followed after the old woman as Golbat dodged and weaved around the the flurry of slashing arms wasted no time in turning on the nearest target, Brock, when the Golbat flew too high to reach.

Ash stared in terrified awe for a moment at the shape. He thought it looked like nothing so much as a colossal, discolored, Muk as the creature's body twisted and undulated as it bore down on Onyx in a way that no segmented body could move. The monster lacked legs, rather possessing a slithering, slug-like body up until the shoulders sprouted from just beneath its insectoid head. Each arm twisted out of the shoulders at odd angles with numerous joints, and ended in hands tipped with talons like Scyther blades.

"Get back!" shouted the old woman, her Golbat flying close enough to the beast to blast it with a sonic attack. The blast of sound slammed into the monster and blew out a section of its side in a spray of chunky debris, a slab of which landed at Ash's feet with a slam. Ash and Misty both scrambled away as the mass, which they saw consisted of bones suspended in a tar-like sludge, hissed and turned on them.

"Arcanine!" Ash shouted, eyes going wide as the truncated mass of the monster sprouted two clawed legs and flung itself at him. Pikachu sparked with electricity and the newly generated creature clashed against Blastoise's shell as the turtle barreled into position on Misty's order. A thick jet of flame from Arcanine and a thunderbolt from Pikachu seared the surface of the beast into a crusty paste.

"We need to help!" said Misty, grabbing Ash's arm and watching as the old woman, her two Pokemon, Brock and Onyx squared off against the colossal monster. She turned back to the nearer fight as Blastoise and Arcanine set into the sludgy creature and bludgeoned or slashed it to bits.

Grabbing the other pokeball at his belt, Ash threw it to the ground and released Fearow, who quickly turned to look around and squawked in surprise at her surroundings. Ash ran to the Pokemon and jumped, flinging one leg over Fearow's neck and swinging himself into an uncomfortable, but stable, sitting position on her shoulders. The large bird turned and eyed him with something between disdain and shock, but Ash took a firm grip on the dense feathers on either side of her vulturine neck.

"Stay with her," he ordered Arcanine, nodding to Misty. Arcanine whimpered once but barked and stood next to the girl, pawing the ground uncomfortably. "Keep her safe now," he said, making himself grin reassuringly.

"Wait!" said Misty. "What do you think-"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ash interrupted, patting Pikachu on the head once. "We're going to kill this thing. Now start moving towards the tower and we'll keep anything stupid enough to show its head busy." He nudged his heels into Fearow's sides and the bird flapped into the air, twenty-five foot wingspan easily lifting Pokemon and trainer skyward.

Misty watched as Ash and Fearow angled towards the monster, which had set its sights on Onyx, before she turned to Arcanine. "Where does he get these stupid ideas like this?" she asked the Pokemon. Arcanine panted and cocked its head at her. "Better yet," she sighed, turning to Pokemon Tower, several blocks away, "how the hell does he pull them off?"

Patting Fearow's side as the bird took them higher into the air and closed on the beast, Ash took a deep breath. He glanced down at the ground, some fifty feet below, and exhaled sharply. The dark mist seemed thinner up here, and he found himself more comfortable looking down at the ground than standing on it. "Here's the plan," he said, both to Fearow and to Pikachu as though he expected both Pokemon to understand him. "We move in to Thunderbolt range, blast the thing and bank hard left to set up for another shot. Got it?"

Squawking, Fearow climbed higher and Ash knew the bird understood. Pikachu chittered, cheeks sparking as he built the necessary energy for the attack. Shifting forward to better grip Fearow, Ash looked down and surveyed the scene from ninety feet in the air. Onyx had slammed into the monster and driven his scythed tail into the beast's flank, while Brock stood back and ordered Golem to attack. The crone had flown off half a block, harrying something on the ground, shapes Ash focused on.

"Shit," he muttered as Fearow leveled off. The shapes were other Pokemon as near as Ash could tell, and they had caught the party between their numbers and the massive bulk of the monster. Ash looked down towards Misty and bit his lip. No sooner had he left than half a dozen Pokemon had rushed out of the buildings and alleys to attack her. There was something wrong with them though. Ash watched as what he took for a Primeape shambled towards Misty too slowly for a Pokemon of its species, and was blasted apart by a fiery rocket from Arcanine. "Oh shit," he reiterated, as the Primeape, now with a hole in its chest, continued towards Misty. "You've got to be kidding me."

Fearow squawked loudly and Ash's attention refocused on the nearing, and still unaware, monster. _Misty can handle some... whatever they are,_ he thought, even as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The trainer and his Pokemon swooped within twenty feet of the beast's side and Pikachu flashed, a bolt of white hot energy blasting from his glowing form and slamming into the monster's back. Close enough now to smell the carrion stink rolling from the creatures body, Ash grinned as Pikachu's attack burned a hole in the monster's back and blasted out its front. "Eat it!" he cheered, the thrill of the fight taking the place of fear.

Fearow banked to the left and rolled away, Ash and Pikachu clinging tight as the monster reared back and reflexively recoiled with its eight huge arms as the bolt tore into it. Ash again surveyed the scene and grunted his approval. Misty had dispatched the Pokemon moving in on her group, the old woman had destroyed the monsters advancing from the flank, and with Ash's help, Brock, Onyx, and now Golem, had driven back the colossal beast before them.

"Just a little bit more," Ash muttered. He looked down at Pikachu, the rodent chittering and sparking as it built up for another attack. Fearow cawed and began angling upwards to regain altitude, prompting Ash to hold on tighter. _I could get used to this,_ he thought, exhilarated. The airborne trainer nudged Fearow with his heels again and the bird banked to the right and angled downward, quickly accelerating in for another pass. "Let's make this one the last one," he said, confidence building in his voice as they dove at the monster's vulnerable back.

As Pikachu flashed with another Thunderbolt, Ash gasped and reflexively pulled hard on the right side of Fearow's neck, prompting the bird to bird to bank a hard right. The monster's upper half spun on an invisible pivot and slashed at Ash with three of its huge hands. Fearow's eyes went wide and it rolled, barely clearing the gap between two claws and nearly losing Ash in the process. The trainer's leg was thrown out to one side and Ash found himself hanging from one clenched fist as Fearow rolled again, back almost scraping the monster's chest as the bird angled desperately to avoid the slashing, clawed, hands, all eight of which were now focused solely on Ash's group.

Heaving with effort as Fearow circled back behind the monster, Ash pulled himself back up on the bird's back, grateful that he hadn't ripped out enough feather's to cost him his grip. Pikachu had dug in and held on for dear life, but Ash and the airborne party angled away, trying to put distance between themselves and the monster as it refocused on Brock and began driving him back.

"What the hell?" Ash gasped as the top two shoulders exploded from the aberration's back as one unit and began flapping like wings. Through the haze Ash struggled to focus on details, but there was obviously a new adversary, one the size of an car, and sporting two wings with sickle-like edges. "Left!" he ordered as the flying arms darted towards him like a Beedrill. "Pikachu, take em out!"

Muscles heaving, Fearow rolled to the left and reversed course almost instantly, bucking Ash around hard, but lining Pikachu up for a perfect shot as the new creature stumbled in the air to correct. Pikachu's Thunderbolt blasted through the air like a yellow bullwhip, cracking just over the monster and missing by inches. The clawed arms rolled downwards, slashing at Fearow who avoided the raking claws by an even thinner margin.

The two areal combatants spiraled away from each other and angled upwards, flapping furiously to gain altitude over the other. Ash's excitement began to again degenerate into fear as he saw the flying arms gaining over him. The claws swooped in and stretched out as Fearow again rolled to avoid them, but the claws shifted as if they'd expected the maneuver and leveled out aiming straight for Fearow's now exposed belly.

Ash gasped as the flying monster smashed into Fearow, claws ripping into her flank. The bird screeched in pain and flapped hard to break loose. The claws held tight and grappled in closed, one talon raking Ash's calf and tearing through the Kevlar backing. "Lose these fuckers!" he barked, drawing the small knife he concealed in his boot and slammed it down into the solidified and cadaver-ridden sludge. Ash stabbed the thing again and again, black ooze spraying him as Fearow squawked and began losing altitude, fighting just to avoid free falling. At fifty feet the creature finally released its hold and flapped off, giving Fearow enough breathing room to straighten out.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted. The rodent flashed again and a third Thunderbolt blasted from his cheeks, this one connecting with the flying claws and exploding in a web of lightning. The creature went rigid and fell. Ash watched as it smashed into the roof of a building beneath and dissolved into muck. "Hell," he growled, squinting as his bleeding calf burned. "Deep wound..."

Fearow called out, circling around to give Ash a better view of the battlefield. His blood seemed to go cool in his veins. Brock had brought down the giant, but its copse had begun dissolving into dozens of smaller monstrosities that mocked the forms of various Pokemon and humans. Aberrations were pouring from alleys and open doorways now, threatening to completely overrun Misty who had been separated from Brock by more than a block.

"Ketchum!" shouted the old woman, riding atop her Golbat and flying within shouting distance. "Look out!"

Ash turned and followed her gaze. "Shit," he spat, eyes widening as dozens of flying insects, Beedrill and Butterfree composed of the same sludgy mass buzzed out of windows and away from rooftops on intercept courses. "Hope you're ready," he said to Fearow and Pikachu. The huge bird beneath him cawed once, an almost pathetic sound, and Ash realized his Pokemon was wounded more gravely than he feared. Glancing down at her side, Ash winced when he saw the blood coagulating in the golden-brown feathers.

Fearow rolled again to the side as the areal opponents closed on her, almost too slowly, dodging a Beedrill's charge by a paper's width. Pikachu tried to loose a Thundershock, but Fearow banked to the right to avoid yet another charge, and Pikachu's attack fizzled harmlessly over the wing of a Butterfree. Ash began barking orders and trying to guide Fearow with his knees, acting as her second set of eyes as the airborne party desperately fought for altitude and tried to break free of the buzzing cloud of assailants surrounding them.

Crying out as a flying insect the size of a human child bashed into him, Ash gripped hard at the feathers on Fearow's neck as he was half flung from her back. The bird squawked as her trainer and Pikachu hung from her side. Weakened too much from her wound to compensate for the shift in weight Fearow began to lean right and angle towards a decrepit skyscraper. "Shit shit shit," Ash swore. He screamed as a black Beedrill buzzed in for the kill, needles aimed at his exposed face.

A blast of flame intercepted the insect and boiled it to nothing before Ash's eyes, dazzling him for a second. Looking around and trying to see through both the glowing spots in his vision and the black haze, he saw Arcanine on the ground, Misty on his back, had climbed atop a two-story building and begun providing ground support. Several more flaming missiles knocked a dozen of Ash's enemies from the sky, and together with the help from the ground, Pikachu and Fearow weeded out most of the rest.

Taking the instant of respite to again survey the battlefield, Ash couldn't contain a mournful sigh. Misty's decision to support him from the rooftops had cost the trainer her momentum, and with ghastly monsters beginning to materialize on the ground around her building, the girl was effectively trapped, still half a dozen blocks from Pokemon Tower. Brock, even farther back than Misty, stood atop Onyx's head as the serpent swept its scything tail back and forth to clear the countless assailants away from his body. Ghosts seemed to materialize from the mist itself and throw themselves, careless of their own survival, at the separated party.

A glimmer of hope flew in when the old woman and her Golbat swooped down and snatched Brock from Onyx's back like a raptor, leaving the Gym Leader free to return his Pokemon to its ball on his belt.

"This is gonna be rough," Ash grumbled, angling Fearow towards Misty and taking aim with his pokeball. He glanced to his side and hissed a curse as a dozen more of the flying insects rose up out of the mists and flew towards him. Ash refocused and ignored them, throwing the pokeball down at Arcanine as Fearow closed to within a dozen meters of the rooftop. As Arcanine disappeared in a flash of white light and Misty grabbed the pokeball, Ash gripped Fearow with his knees and one hand, and extended his other hand for Misty.

Fearow pulled up and flapped hard once, decelerating and changing course with breakneck force just as Ash's hand locked around Misty's wrist and she grabbed his arm. Shifting to fling her onto Fearow's back behind him, Ash released Misty's arm and she instantly locked her arms around his waist. "Gotcha," he said, a small grin breaking across his face.

"Thanks for the rescue," said Misty, just as dozens of malicious shades tore onto the roof she'd just escaped and Fearow took off into the sky. "You can fly this thing?" she asked, snapping Arcanine's pokeball to Ash's belt.

"Well enough," said Ash, noting Fearow's growing fatigue. "We need to hurry."

"Ketchum! We need to get to the tower!" shouted the old woman, Brock in tow as the party closed two blocks in a matter of seconds. She brought her Golbat alongside Fearow. "Hurry and- Look Out!" She jutted her finger towards him.

Ash turned just in time to see a dark shape materializing out of the mists beside him, keeping pace with his Pokemon. It looked vaguely human, though squatter and glowing a ghostly purple. The world seemed to go silent as the Gengar sprung at Ash and bit, its teeth passing through his shoulder plates and skin, paralyzing him. He locked up, legs constricting around Fearow's neck just as a black Beedrill slammed into the bird's side.

Misty screamed and lost her grip as Fearow rolled helplessly to the side. The girl clutched Ash but her fingers found nothing. She felt weightless, both from the terror and the fall as she plummeted end over end, watching as the buildings grew closer and closer. Even panicked, she understood the seventy foot fall would be the end.

_Misty!!_ Ash wanted to scream as he watched his companion fall from view. His burning eyes locked on the lifeless orbs set in the Gengar's head and his mind seemed to explode. He fought to throw off the ghost's corrupting influence, but an irresistible cold clawed into his head as the Gengar drove its thumbs into his temples. He would have shrieked at the sickening cold if his lungs had been his own. The Gengar's eyes flashed a deep crimson and it grinned, even as Pikachu's Thundershock seared into its form and dispersed with a flash of yellow light.

Feeling like he was melting, Ash only vaguely saw Pokemon Tower looming up in front of him like a mountain. Fearow's wings gave out with a tremor and she could only aim for one of the windows set low in the side of the building. Ash felt the glass shatter around him as Fearow crashed through the thick pane and rolled, tumbling into the building and pitching Ash to the floor where he rolled through the shrapnel and debris.

Outside, plummeting through the air and unable to scream, Misty gasped at the jerk on her arm and the violent tug that stopped her fall only a few feet above the flat roof of a squat building. Hanging on something by one arm and lightheaded, she watched her feet slowly drift down towards the roof until the slate shingles clinked beneath her shoes. "Huh?" she muttered, looking up at the two disembodied purple hands hovering just above her. In the mists between the hands she thought she saw a face, wearing a ghostly smile and sinking away into the oblivion between her and Pokemon Tower.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Where Angels Fear

Ash stirred, sucking in a dry breath that filled his lungs with dusty air. He clenched his fists. He thought he felt the floor beneath his stomach, but the aching all over his body made certainty impossible. He grudgingly opened one eye, but took a moment to adjust. He indeed lay on his stomach, on a floor strewn with broken glass and shattered stone. Right in front of his face lay what he guessed to be the remnants of some stone, long ago carved into a defined shape though now all that remained was rubble. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, staring down at the grey floor, and took a deep breath. His head ached, his face burned, and little drops of blood fell into his view and plipped in a small red pool.

"Where am I?" he asked quietly, reaching up and finding that his face had been cut along his forehead and left cheek. Shallow wounds though they were, they bled badly. "And when- what-" the question died, half formed in his mind. As near as the trainer could tell, he'd lain motionless long enough for his wounds to form a small puddle of blood which had stained the side of his face.

A cold mass nudged Ash's arm and he looked down, spotting Pikachu looking up at him, worried. The trainer smiled and nodded to the Pokemon, then gasped. "Fearow," he pushed up to his feet, swooning for a second in a lightheaded daze. He cast about and saw his other Pokemon, laying in a heap just inside the shattered floor to ceiling windows. He rushed to her as quickly as he could and dropped to his knees by her head, looking her over.

"Hey," he whispered, setting one hand on the side of her face and trying to wake the bird. "Hey," he repeated louder, pushing her a little more. "C'mon, wake up. We can't stay here."

Fearow's big eye remained shut and when Ash sat back her head lolled back into the same position in which it had lain. The trainer looked the bird over again, this time spotting the large clump of matted feathers, completely congealed in dry blood, running the length of her side. "Ah shit," Ash muttered under his breath, reaching up with one hand to draw his fingers across his own wounds, his head pulsing.

Pikachu walked up next to Ash and bumped his trainer's flank with the side of his face, prompting Ash to reach down and scratch behind the Pokemon's ears. He quickly felt along Fearow's neck for a pulse, but found nothing. Combing through the crust of bloody feathers to get a better look at the wound, he saw the wide and deep gash, while still open, had stopped bleeding without a pumping heart to force the blood along.

"So we need to get to the top of this damn tower and destroy whatever it was Team Rocket is building," he said, guts twisting as he spoke through a quivering lip. "Then get back to-" An image of Misty, knocked from Fearow's back and falling through space, flashed through Ash's mind and his fists instantly clenched. "Shit," he spat, shutting his eyes and doubling over, his blood flash boiling in his veins as a guttural growl escaped his throat. "Shit shit shit." A tear rolled from the corner of one eye and watered down the blood staining the side of his face as he stopped and watched over and over in his mind as Misty fell.

"And Misty," he choked, the name was bitter in his mouth, positive she was dead. He dropped to his knees, rooted in place and knocked one white knuckled fist against his forehead. He wanted to scream. "First mom, then Misty and Fearow," he rumbled, his racing pulse drowning out the sound of the wind hissing in through the broken window. "I'm gonna- Why should I fucking bother? What's the-" His mother's smile flashed before his eyes and made his heart thrum at a feverish pace. He saw red and slammed his fist into the hard concrete beneath him.

"Damn it!" he shouted, making Pikachu flinch. "God damn it all!" He took a huge breath and screamed as he smashed his hand into the concrete again, then again. "God damn it! I can't do this anymore! I give!"

His third attack on the concrete filled the room with a snapping crunch, though he felt nothing even as his fingers went rigid in his glove. He stopped and dropped his forehead to the ground, muttering and cursing under his breath. He slumped there for a minute, breathing heavily as Pikachu stood off. Feeling, hot pain, gradually seeped into Ash's hand and he realized through the bloody haze in his mind that he had probably bruised if not broken his hand.

Slowly, Pikachu approached his still trainer and sniffed Ash's hand, then gingerly licked at his fingers through the trainer's glove. Ash looked down at the Pokemon and his face broke, he pulled himself into a sitting position and picked up Pikachu, holding him close and shivering. Pikachu licked Ash's face, cleaning away some of the red stain as they sat for several minutes.

"Sorry," Ash muttered, voice dry and cracking. Again he saw his mother. _I never said goodbye,_ he remembered. The thought made his chest scream and he again fought back tears. "I didn't mean to freak," he said when he could speak again. Eyes still watering he hollowly laughed once and shook his head. "I've got to be going insane..." he said as he ran a hand through his hair and tugged at it in frustration. "If I'm not already."

Then Ash noticed the hissing wind. Turning towards the broken window and Fearow's body he saw the purple mist seeping into the room and hanging in the air like a poisonous fog and his blood chilled. "Thunderbol-" he tried to shout. Pikachu noticed an instant too late and looked up and around as the rushing gas slammed into Ash like a tidal wave, propelling the trainer back to the ground. The rodent's cheeks sparked as it rolled off Ash and took aim at the cloud, but Pikachu hesitated, suddenly stunned and frozen to the ground in mid battle cry.

Congealing from the darkening mist, the Gengar pinned Ash to the ground, eyes flashing red as the helpless trainer struggled and twitched. Rows of fangs flickered as the ghost laughed and shoved its clawed fingers into Ash's temples, insubstantial thumbs driving into his eyes. "Help!" he shouted, trying to wrench his head away. His breathing quickening, the trainer's eyes rolled back in his head and his jaw went completely slack. Ash's hands bolted up into the air, through the laughing Gengar, and flailed wildly.

In an instant something ripped away Gengar and Ash went limp. His head rolled to one side and, barely lucid, he saw the ghostly shape roiling backwards from the onslaught of a wispy white and silver light. The Gengar snarled, a sound like rubber boiling, and tore itself loose of the light which reformed into a translucent humanoid shape between the Pokemon and Ash. The glowing shape's long tail snapped through the air like a lightning bolt as it's pale eyes locked on the ghost.

As the angelic figure charged and barreled into the ghastly apparition, the two shapes colliding, disintegrating, and reforming like pillars of mist, Ash felt himself being dragged away. Something had grabbed his arm and was pulling him away from the action. Regaining just enough motor control to shift his head around, Ash turned and saw the ghostly purple hand let go of his arm as the odd collection of floating body parts faded into nothing.

"The... hell...?" he muttered, just before dropping his head back.

SC

"Misty!" Brock shouted, throwing his shoulder into the heavy metal door, slamming it shut.

"I know!" the girl shouted back, tearing through a pile of garbage and pulling out an ax with an unusably rusty head, but bearing an especially long and sturdy haft.

Brock lurched back as the door jumped partly open and a cadaverous arm reached through and clawed at the interior wall. Brock charged and threw himself against the door, closing it with a violent snap and a crash as the hand dropped to the ground. "Now!" he ordered.

Misty turned with the ax and jammed it against the steel door's handle and braced it against the ground, barring the door and firmly jamming it shut. She sighed in relief as the pounding of fists continued against the door like a drum roll, and turned her back to the wall. "That was way too close," she said, breathing in quick draws, sliding down and sitting against the cold wall and the colder tile. "Why didn't you just have Golem hold the door?" she glanced up at Brock, an undertone of venom in her words.

"Look around," said the Gym Leader, gesturing about the small storage room in the back of the run down Pokemon Center into which they'd fled. "He wouldn't fit in here. But along that line, why didn't you have have Blastoise out and fighting when that old woman's Golbat went down on the roof?"

"Why do you think?" Misty retorted, ignoring now the fists beating against the door. "You two flew down to pick me up and then we instantly got swarmed by those flying bugs and crashed on the roof. As soon as we landed all three of us were running for our lives. I didn't exactly see you scrambling to get Onix out."

Brock drew back and crossed his arms. "Point taken," he admitted. "There wasn't a whole lot of time. You're right." He sighed and looked around the little room, scanning the barred door, the one window on the opposite wall, also barred, and the utter lack of any useful tools laying about. "And now we're stuck here..."

They slipped into silence for as both considered the predicament. Daylight had since faded and had taken with it any real hope Misty felt for escape. Her curse induced wounds were spreading, leaving her uncomfortable and dirty at best, and the trainers had been split up. Ash had flown off towards the tower and crashed into it according to Brock, Misty had completely lost her bearings after her impossible survival, and the old woman had vanished.

The beating on the door intensified, but the thick steel hinges and bolts held firm, showing no signs of giving. Though they were ostensibly safe, as the minutes wore on the sound began to wear at Misty's nerves. "Would you all," she growled, getting up and walking to the door, voice rising, "just shut the fuck up!" She slapped her hand against the door for emphasis, though it failed to deter the monsters on the other side. "Great..." she sighed. "So we're just going to sit here and wait for them to go away?" she asked.

"Or we could sit and wait for rescue," said Brock. "But I'd rather try to come up with an escape plan," he amended.

"Yeah," Misty sighed, setting her forehead against the door. "There's that too... I just hope Ash is OK," she muttered. She shook her head and bit her lip.

Brock glanced at her from the corner of his eye, eyebrows furrowing into a grimace. Leaning against the wall he uncrossed his arms and dropped his hands into his pockets. "So does Ash know about you? I mean your real story?"

Bristling, Misty twitched and shot a venomous glare at Brock. "What story?" she asked.

Raising one eyebrow, Brock didn't answer. He just watched as Misty eyed him.

"Probably not," she said when Misty saw the Gym Leader shift one hand closer to the pokeballs at his belt. They stared at each other for a moment, the air thickening between them. Misty's face softened but grew no less icy when Brock's hand moved back to his pocket. "I suppose you picked it up somewhere?"

"Bits and pieces," said Brock calmly. "I heard rumors here and there, nothing substantial, you were cautious after all. But I suspected something wasn't right up north. I pieced most of it together when my little brother came back from Cerulean with news that you were gone, your sister was dead, and Kasumi had assumed control of the Gym overnight. Little things Ash told me about your time with him on the road confirmed my suspicions about you and Team Rocket."

As all the air around her seemed to chill, Misty smirked, eyes narrowing only a little as she stood up and turned to face Brock, crossing her arms behind her back. The wound on her cheek, bandage long since lost, grew slightly as her features changed. "Then why haven't you tried to kill me yet?" asked Misty nonchalantly. Her finger twitched behind her, almost going for the pokeball magnetically clipped to the back of her belt.

"Well you haven't tried to kill me yet," said Brock. "And you're helping us against Team Rocket. I figured you can't be all bad since you don't stand to gain anything from all this fighting and danger, at least you wouldn't if you were working for Team Rocket. Still," he stiffened, "Even though we're working together, and even if Ash trusts you, I still want to know your side of the story."

Now Misty raised an eyebrow. She watched Brock carefully, noting that he had made no move to go for any kind of weapon... not a pokeball, not his boot knife, nothing. "Why bring all this up now?" she asked. "What do you want to know that you haven't already heard?"

Shrugging, Brock rolled his shoulders back and spoke evenly. "Just because you're against Team Rocket doesn't mean you're not one of the bad guys. I know you're a criminal but I want your side of things. Call it due diligence."

Folding her arms in front of her chest, Misty chuckled briefly. "Sure, why not?" she said, shaking her head once. Looking away to collect her thoughts, she stared at the blank wall, then turned back to Brock. "I killed people... and I made a lot of money doing it. I ran my Gym as a front for Team Rocket, but my sisters caught me." She paused for a deep breath. "The only thing I can tell you that you don't already know is that at first I agreed to leave, knowing I could go to any one of a dozen Rocket hideouts. Kasumi insisted on a fight though. Maybe she knew I'd just go back to my bosses and didn't want me loose, or maybe she wanted me dead so she could take over the gym with no fear of a rival. Either way we fought, and Violet died."

"Assuming I believe you," said Brock, taking advantage of Misty's break. "Why didn't you go back and kill Kasumi?"

Misty turned and stared at the dark window, tracing the lines of the bars with her eyes. "I'd planned to," she said. "For what she did? Yeah, I wanted to kill her, but she had all of the gym's considerable resources behind her after I left, and I needed to regroup. So I went to the nearest Rocket base, but they turned me out on my ear... said that taking back the gym without drawing a lot of attention wouldn't be feasible. What's more, they tried to finish me off and chased me all the way to Mt. Moon. I lost them in the Deep Roads but got lost myself too. Those are three weeks I... don't remember fondly."

She spoke casually, but Brock's sharp senses caught the minute shiver that ran down her frame. "So there you were," he prompted.

"So there I was," Misty said, "out in the world, out for revenge, and out of luck."

"What changed?" asked Brock. "This started out as a quest for revenge, but now... what? What's your motivation?"

"I'm fighting Team Rocket," said Misty, verbally raising her guard. "You're a valuable asset in that fight and that should be good enough for you. I don't have any reason to make your life difficult... or short."

"There's more to it," said Brock, taking a step forward. "You're out for revenge, on Team Rocket and your sister, but when we're in Cerulean you avoid the gym like the plague, even though you're more than smart enough to turn Ash, and in turn me, against Kasumi. You wanted nothing more than to kill Kasumi, but instead you go out of your way to try and get away from her. I don't buy it."

"You don't have to," Misty retorted. "Take it's for what it's worth. Are we done?"

Going silent, Brock moved one hand up to his chin as Misty walked away and stood in front of the window. Scratching at the stubble, Brock watched her for a moment. "Ash changed everything, didn't he?" said Brock, loudly enough for her to hear, though Misty didn't move or answer. "You were traveling and plotting your revenge when you met Ash. Hell, you probably incorporated him into your plans to fight Team Rocket which is why you stuck with him in the beginning... he was a useful tool. But somewhere between Pallet and Cerulean, all that changed. Suddenly there was a risk of Ash finding out about your past and you wanted nothing more than to bury it all."

"Shut up," Misty warned, not turning around.

"As Ash became more important, revenge became less important. Is that it?"

"I said shut up," Misty growled.

"He showed you the kind of friendship you'd only ever heard of," Brock pressed. "And it was wonderful, so wonderful that you couldn't bear losing it. That's it isn't it?"

"And is it wrong?" Misty barked as she turned on her heel, a tear dripping down her cheek and into the lesion. "So I found a little bit of happiness. What's the big deal? I'm human! Get off my case!"

Sighing, Brock put up his hands in surrender and went quiet as Misty turned back around. _It's good __to know I can trust you,_ thought the Gym Leader, satisfied now that he thought he understood more.

Glaring out the window, Misty took short quiet breaths as her eyes flitted about from figure to figure moving in the dark mists below. Her mind spun, reeling for evidence to prove Brock wrong. _Ash had nothing to do with it,_ she told herself. _It just wasn't the right time to take Kasumi out. I'm still doing this just to get back at Team Rocket..._ Even in her head, the words were hollow and meaningless and she knew it.

SC

At some point between two and three in the morning, Ash realized that his consciousness was gradually returning to him. At first he simply stared straight ahead at the featureless grey wall, but then he gained enough mental strength to realize that's he'd been hoisted into a sitting position with his back to a crumbled stone. Shortly thereafter he grasped that Pikachu sat beside his leg, and a few moments later he saw the almost imperceptibly faint silver glow around his legs, arms and torso. The aura, he reasoned, likely enveloped all of him.

_**You are awake,**_ the voice sounded in Ash's head, echoing a little. **_Good, you rested quite long enough._**

Ash's vision focused and sharpened and he looked around for the source of the voice without success. "Who?" he started to ask.

_**Down here,**_ said the voice.

Glancing down, Ash met Pikachu's gaze, looking into the Pokemon's purple and slightly luminescent eyes. "Oh great," said Ash calmly, leaning his head back against the stone. "Now I know I'm crazy."

_**This is a great deal to take in, but I promise you that you are more or less mentally sound. I am psychically overshadowing your Pikachu in order to communicate with you.**_

"Wait, what?" asked Ash, ears perking up as he turned to look at Pikachu, now able to tell that the voice, while he only heard it in his head, seemed to radiate from the rodent. The look on the little Pokemon's face was completely blank and vacant. Only the eyes showed any intelligence at all, and even then, the presence felt completely alien to Ash. "Get away from my Pikachu!" he barked, sitting up and glowering over the Pokemon. "If you hurt him I'll-"

_**Your Pokemon is fine,**_ said the voice. **_He is sleeping. Rest assured that I only want to help you stop Team Rocket._**

Ash glared at the glow in Pikachu's eyes. If his instincts were anything to be believed, the voice was telling the truth, or at least Ash sensed no active lie in the words. "Fine," he said incredulously, relaxing only a little. "So what can I call you? And how can you help me? I thought Psychics were powerless against ghosts."

_**I am no ordinary psychic,**_ said the voice, haughtiness plain in the words. **_You may call me,_** Ash sensed a tiny and cautious pause before the voice continued, _**Mewtwo, if you must address me as anything, though I will insist you keep our exchange here a close secret. As for helping you, look at yourself.**_

Holding up his hands, Ash watched as the silver glow hovered over his skin, fading to an impossibly faint barrier between him and the rest of the world. "I noticed this," he said. "What is it?"

_**An envelope of psionic energy, a shield between you and the ghosts here,**_ said Mewtwo. **_It is not much, but it will keep the ghosts from using their material manifestations to harm you directly... It will not protect you from other, more mundane dangers however, so you must be cautious on your way to the roof._**

"Right," said Ash as he stood up. "We need to destroy that machine. I assume you're here to show me the way then?"

_**Correct. Because of the ghostly interference here, there is little I can do to directly help you. Driving away that first ghost drained most of the energy I could spare to invest in this venture. It was, however, necessary to keep you alive.**_

Ash paused and looked around the room, stopping briefly on Fearow's corpse. He felt a pang of guilt, but pushed it to the back of his mind and told himself she did a good job right up till the end. "So you're the one who saved me."

Ash felt confirmation echo in his mind as Pikachu's body walked up beside him. _**Yes, while I dealt with the Gengar, another ghost pulled you away and kept you safe until I could erect the shield around you.**_

"Where did it go? Was that the thing I saw before I passed out?"

_**Yes and it vanished after helping you, to where I am not sure... I know you have questions, but walk with me. This level of the tower is safe enough for the present. Still, we must not delay. The longer we wait, the longer the ghosts have to grow stronger, and the smaller our chances of success,**_ Mewtwo said quickly and calmly as, via Pikachu, he lead Ash around the crumbled stones and piles of bones in the room.

Passing through the empty door, trainer and Pokemon entered into a long, dim hall. Any decorations or aesthetic adornments had long since rotted away from the walls, leaving exposed the bare stone and brick of the tower's skeleton. Ash shivered. The dozens of unmatched skeletons laying perfectly still, enveloped by the dark mists in the hall, all seemed to watch him through empty eye sockets. "How many Pokemon were buried in this place?" Ash asked, fighting off another uncomfortable twitch.

_**Many thousands,**_ said Mewtwo. Ash caught the almost mournful undertone in his protector's voice. **_When the slavers attacked this place a century ago they brought with them many, many Pokemon, as many as a dozen per trainer in hopes of overwhelming the city's defenses with numbers. Most of those dead are interred here. Ash Ketchum,_** Mewtwo said quickly, turning Pikachu to face the trainer. He stopped the pair in front of a large set of wooden double doors near a bend in the dark hall. A since faded plaque above the door read 'Stairs'.

"What?" Ash asked, crossing his arms, only now noticing he could see his breath, even in the smoky mist that surrounded him.

_**Clarification, the ghosts cannot assault you with their physical forms as long as I protect you, **_Mewtwo repeated, **_but that is not to say they will not try, and whenever they do, it will weaken the barrier and drain some of my energy. Likewise, they are not prohibited from laying traps for you or confronting you with nightmarish apparitions. You must still be on your guard all the way to the top of the tower. I am pouring as much energy as I can afford into your safety, but there are other, more pressing matters to which I must simultaneously devote great resources. Do not think yourself my highest priority._**

"I understand," said Ash, reaching out for the doors as Mewtwo nodded Pikachu's head. Ash reached out and pushed open the doors, and carefully looked through. "This might take a little more planning," he whispered. Even staring intently, Ash's eyes barely penetrated the utter darkness beyond the threshold of the door. The mists seemed to congeal into a wall, through which Ash could only make out the rough angles of the stairs in the largely hollow room beyond. Taking a step forward, he passed through the barrier and felt the breath rush out of his lungs as the hair on the back of his neck bolted upward.

Taking a quick step back out, into the comparatively bright hallway, Ash shook his head. "No way," he muttered, cold sweat beginning to break out on his forehead. "I can't go in there."

_**Now is not the time to falter,**_ Mewtwo said through his vessel. **_The path to the machine is far shorter than the path out of Lavender, and both require you to go through that door._**

Ash turned and looked back through the darkness. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath. Tightening his jaw and squinting, he walked over the threshold again and made himself stand there as Pikachu's body walked up next to him. "OK," he said to himself. "From here..." He looked around, holding his breath as he did so.

Unlike the world outside the tower, Ash's altered sight seemed to do him little good. He could make out only the outlines of the narrow stairs leading away, up on the left and down on the right, from the landing on which he stood. The wall opposite the door was completely invisible, as was anything more than a few feet away. Slowly Ash stepped out, feeling with his boot, and navigated the first few stairs leading up, simply making sure the faint lines, solid black against a hazy black background, he interpreted to be the edges of stairs, were actually solid.

"You coming?" Ash asked, looking back behind him and flinching for a moment. Pikachu he saw only as a faint purple aura hovering around where he guessed his Pokemon to be.

_**Interesting,**_ Ash heard Mewtwo's voice. **_Your Pikachu's exceptionally acute eyesight is useless in this place. He might as well be blind._**

"You're good though," Ash asked. "Oh geez," he reached out for the wall to steady himself after he'd briefly looked over the edge of the stairs. He realized only after looking down that the darkness made the ground seem impossibly far away, and the lack of a handrail on the inward face of the spiral staircase only enhanced the effect.

_**I can see as well as ever. **_Again Ash caught the unveiled arrogance in the tone. He said nothing as he, keeping one hand on the wall for reference, took the stairs, one step at a time, and began working his way up the spine of the tower. Despite the motions remaining the same as he climbed, taking each new step remained as difficult and uncomfortable as the last step. Every time he set his foot on the solid stone he felt as though it were ready to crumble beneath his feet. And then he heard something and looked up.

"Oh shit!" he gasped, snatching up Pikachu in an instant and bolting forward, climbing five or six stairs between each heartbeat. A colossal body of rock, only the outlines of which he could see, came rushing downwards in silence until its outermost edge impacted the stair just behind Ash's heel with a thunderous crash and a shower of debris. As the stone sheared away, Ash felt reverberations in the stairs, beyond just the initial shudder from the impact.

_**Run,**_ Mewtwo prompted as Ash's foot seemed to fall out behind him. Shifting forward with a grunt, Ash sprinted up the invisible stairs, barely seeing what was ahead of him and relying solely on his best guesses as the stairs collapsed and fell away behind him. The sound of rock slamming and breaking against rock filled Ash's ears as he ran, completely losing track of how many steps he'd taken or how many floors he'd cleared. **_Eighteen more steps and then through the door, _**Mewtwo directed, tone quickened.

Desperately trying not to focus on each stair collapsing just after he'd cleared each step, Ash counted off the paces, mentally, then verbally as his lungs began to scream for air. Whether in his head or in reality, Ash thought he saw ahead of him the faint silhouette of a cracked door and, real or not, he threw himself at it. With a clang and crash, Ash fell through the door as it swung open before him. Puffing, he got quickly to his feet to look back at the empty stairwell door, through which he could no longer see even the outlines of the stairs.

"That was too close..." he muttered, leaning against the wall and puffing for air. "Was that what you meant by 'more mundane' dangers?"

Pikachu's body didn't move, nor did Mewtwo answer.

"Hey," said Ash, looking over his shoulder and focusing all attention on Pikachu. "I'm talking to you," he went on. "I know I'm just some expendable asset to you, but you could at least answer me. How did the gho-" he stopped and his gaze followed Pikachu's empty stare. "You've got to be kidding," he choked, heart leaping into his throat as his stomach began to dance beneath his ribs.

Seeming to glow faintly red, accentuated by mortar long ago blackened by filth, the exposed red brick hallway before Ash stood crowded with figures. Only a few yards in front of Ash, human shapes suspended by wires that wrapped around their wrists, elbows, and their necks hung like marionettes in the hall, so clustered and numerous that they formed a wall, beyond which Ash could not see.

The young trainer stood up straight and stared, jaw loose. His gaze focused on the faces of the first rows of bodies, and he shivered. From every drooping head, thick black hair, matted and streaked with brown and dull red obscured every face. "What the hell is this?" he whispered, bristling, eyes wandering over the pustular sores that dotted each and every body. "What did this to all of them?"

_**Cadavers,**_ Mewtwo responded. T**_hese are likely victims in the final stages of the ghost's plague. I warned you they would likely confront you with ghastly scenes,_** the psychic prompted as Ash stared, transfixed. _**And unfortunately the exit to the roof lies beyond this hall.**_

Ash looked up towards the ceiling, though he saw nothing. The wires supporting the bodies ran up and disappeared into the thick black mist concealing everything more than ten feet above the floor. Getting to his hands and knees, Ash crouched and tried to look under the wall of cadavers, but the mist again preempted him. The rank ooze, seeping down the bare legs of the bodies from their countless wounds dripped from their gangrenous toes and plipped invisibly to the mist-obscured floor.

Putting his hand over his mouth and standing up, Ash turned around and looked back into the blackness of the empty stairwell. He glanced over his shoulder at the morbid scene in the hallway and all but gagged. He swore that from under that matted hair they were all staring at him. Dead or not, they were all watching him with diseased eyes. "There's no damn way I can do this," he said, turning away from the hall again. "There's got to be some way around all of this. Find another way."

_**There is no other way**_, said Mewtwo. **_These bodies are assuredly dead, and as you have already contracted the plague you have nothing to-_**

"I've what!?" Ash barked. "What do you fucking mean I've caught the plague?!"

_**I assumed you had guessed it already,**_ said Mewtwo, looking up at a seething Ash through Pikachu's eyes. **_Given your level of exposure to this place it is only logical that you contract it. Also you have begun to show symptoms... the speckled flesh around your lips for one._**

Ash ran the back of his hand over his lips and cursed. "Shit," he hissed, hair standing on end as he looked back at the hallway, and the drawn bodies filling it. "Shit," he cursed again. "This is insane."

_**So now your options are die, or end this,**_ said Mewtwo, not a hint of sympathy in his tone. **_And we both know which option benefits both of us._**

"Where do you get off?" Ash snapped, bringing his foot back to kick the little yellow rodent, before suddenly remembering that it was not really Pikachu provoking him. He steadied himself and took a deep breath. "You just show up, take control of my Pokemon, and start ordering me around like you're my boss. Then you just tell me I either have to do what you say, or die."

_**And?**_ Mewtwo asked.

"And?" Ash growled. "And you're a frigid, hardhearted, son of a bitch!"

_**Which does not alter the facts, **_said the overshadowing psychic. **_Either you destroy Team Rocket's machine, or you die._** _**I did not thrust this situation upon you but now that you are involved, I am simply seeking the outcome that most benefits both of us. So will you or will you not press forward.**_

Glaring at the purple glow in Pikachu's eyes. "Go to hell," he muttered after a long minute. Ash turned back to the hallway, facing down all of the strung-up cadavers, and took a few cautious steps forward. As he came close enough to reach out and touch the fleshy wall, Ash paused, his boots beginning to stick to the floor and peel away with a quiet sucking sound. He thought about loosing Arcanine, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Closing his eyes, Ash reached out and put his hand on one corpse's shoulder and began pushing the body aside. If the weight was anything to be believed, these cadavers were very real. Ash lost track of Pikachu as the trainer slid between two shapes and into the hanging mass. His blood chilled and seemed to stick in his veins as one of the hands he pushed aside flopped down on his shoulder. A rough hissing of air right beside his head rooted Ash to the ground. Glancing to the side Ash caught the last motion of the black hair falling back before the obscured face. Ash twitched and looked over to another face, drawn by the sound of a dry sniffing.

_**Stop moving,**_ the trainer heard Mewtwo warn.

_Not so dead after all?_ Ash wondered, holding his breath and freezing. His lungs began to burn before a minute had passed and still the cadaver on his left sniffed the air, or at made such sounds. The dead hand still resting on his shoulder, Ash's eyes flitted from side to side. He tried not to imagine the fingers laying so close to his neck.

_**A trick of the ghosts**_, said the psychic as the sniffing sound stopped. **_It would seem that the ghost's attention is largely focused elsewhere._**

"How can you tell?" Ash half whispered, half gasped as the rigor mortis in the arm across his shoulder finally pulled the limb back into its position, hanging from the wire.

_**Ghosts need to work in great numbers to accomplish anything here in this world. The more of them in a given location, the more power those ghosts possess. One or two can perform small tricks, while a few dozen might be able to animate a corpse.**_

"Fascinating," said Ash, looking up at the obscured ceiling to take his eyes off the ghosts. He took another step, trying to move as carefully as he could through the macabre forest. "But right now I don't really care."

_**Perhaps it is for the best that you were separated from your companions, **_toned the voice as Ash picked his way through. **_You divided the ghosts' attention, lessening their capabilities in a given area._**

Ash swallowed hard, the smell of decomposition growing stronger as he waded deeper, fluids from the cankerous sores beginning to cling to his body armor only intensifying the stink. His hair rose up on end as a sharp hissing sniff shattered the quiet and a corpse leaned forward on its wires, its face right in front of Ash's. The trainer yelled and brought his hands up for defense, catching the head across its face and knocking it aside. Ash heard the clicking of teeth falling to the floor and opened one eye, seeing the head lulled and unmoving on a neck half severed by the wire.

_**Keep walking**_, the voice sounded in Ash's head as the trainer slapped his hand over his mouth.

Walking and fighting back dry heaves, Ash became less and less concerned with making as little noise as he could. He stumbled forward, knocking bodies out of his way, screwing his eyes shut, and fighting to ignore the hands that bumped his face and the growls rumbling in the dead throats all around. Finally he came to a solid wall, feeling the wall of smothering bodies disappear. The young trainer leaned forward and put both hands on the wall, lurching once and throwing up.

"I..." he muttered, opening his eyes and wiping his mouth with one hand, "am so sick of this." The rancid smell of decay clung to him like a shroud, but looking back at the butcher's hall, he saw he had cleared the forest and reached a bend in the hall. He turned when he felt the psychic presence behind him pass beside him.

_**This way,**_ said Mewtwo. **_We have no way of knowing how long until the ghosts focus more of their attention on you._**

Ash nodded. "Right," he sighed, face drawn. "We should keep moving." He followed Pikachu's form down a series of brick hallways, noticing on more than one occasion that there was no natural illumination in the building, or that any such source of light was hidden and its glow muffled and dissipated by the smoky haze. He assumed it was a trick of the mists. The sounds of moans echoing and blowing through the halls and stairwells, sometimes quiet and sometimes ear-splitting, became a constant cacophony, a backdrop for the sounds of dripping liquid and falling rock that seemed to click and drip from nowhere.

Through doors and around blind corners Ash would hear people calling out, sometimes in pain and sometimes in twisted mockeries of pleas for help. The first time he stopped to look, a woman's emaciated form, crucified with heavy spies on a concrete wall greeted him with a deafening scream and a streak of obscenities. He was still rubbing his ears and trying to clear the image from his head when Ash heard another voice, this one barely audible, calling out from behind a closed door down a side hall.

Pikachu's body stopped and Mewtwo's eyes focused intently on a bend in the hall. _**There is someone down there... alive I think.**_ He looked up at Ash. **_Though it could be a trick._**

Shaking his head, Ash walked down the hall and around the corner without a second thought. Fatigue hung in his eyes, making them glassy and slow to focus, but his face hardened. "Doesn't matter," he said. "If someone is alive we need to help-" He stopped with a scream in front of the open door as a jet of flame blasted out in front of his, dazzling his vision and throwing him against the wall.

"Hold on," said a weak voice from inside the room. "I don't think it's one of them."

Gasping for air, Ash got to his feet and put his back to the wall, next to the door. "Whose there?" he asked, reaching behind his back and grabbing Arcanine's pokeball. "Answer me," he ordered.

"You first," said the voice, a woman Ash guessed. "I'll have Charmeleon roast you alive, I swear I-" the voice trailed off and Ash heard a thud.

"Hell," Ash muttered. "I'm coming in," he called through the door. "I'll help you if I can." He looked around the jam of the door and stepped inside, hands out in front of him. Instantly greeted by the sight of a large, very agitated Charmeleon glaring at him, Ash froze, but didn't back up. He stared the Charmeleon down, glancing between the heavy lizard and the the young woman slumped on the ground beside it, and began walking slowly in an arc around the Pokemon towards the girl.

Poking its head around the door, Pikachu's form popped into view. _**This is unwise,**_ Ash heard Mewtwo warn. **_We should not be wasting time here._**

"She's obviously hurt," said Ash, not taking his eyes off the Charmeleon, paying special mind to the Pokemon's open maw, rows of teeth, and twitching, torch-tipped tail. "And she's not a ghost," he added, coming up next to the doubled over figure, not missing the blood, a sight he was by now very used to, forming a little pool on the ground around her. "Hey," he said, kneeling down beside her, despite Charmeleon's furious growling. "C'mon, stay with me."

Settling down just a little after a purple spark flitted across its eyes, Charmeleon's growls faded into low, guttural rumbles. _**Be quick about this then,**_ said Mewtwo.

Ash slid one arm under the girl's shoulder and gingerly pulled her up to lean against him. "What's your name?" he asked, trying to get her talking once he saw her eyes struggle open.

"Johanna," said the girl, looking up at Ash. She gritted her teeth and flinched. "Yours?"

"Ash Ketchum," he answered. _I don't have anything to bandage her up,_ he realized, almost positive she wouldn't last much longer once he saw the wounds running down her neck and the whole right side of her body. "What were you doing here?"

"Well you're not one of the ghosts," said Johanna. "I tended the..." she paused and a cynical look settled on her face as her brown eyes faded a little. "Aw hell, I'm dead right?"

Ash shook his head. "No, you look good," he lied. "As soon as I take care of Team Rocket we'll get you out of here and you'll be fine in a few weeks."

"You're a bad liar, kid" she replied, stone-faced. "But you know about Team Rocket here?" Her eyes focused before going glassy again as she looked him over. "You're not with the Elite Four are you?" She sat up some, hopeful. "Did they get my message? Are they here?"

Ash took a second in surprise. "Afraid not," he answered, watching the hope fade from Johanna's face. "I was traveling through Rock Tunnel and one of the ghosts attacked my friends. I came here to stop it all."

Johanna sighed and leaned back again. "Great..." she muttered. "I wanted the army and I don't even get the militia... Sorry" she looked up at Ash. "I'm a Ranger from Indigo," she said quickly, beginning to breathe in quick gasps for air as her grip on his collar tightened. "Listen, take my Charmeleon. He's loyal and obedient." She turned to the still growling Pokemon and nodded to Ash. "Do what he says, he's your boss now," she ordered, mustering what force she could. "If he's trying to fix all this he can't be all bad... bad." Johanna's eyes looked suddenly hollow as she whimpered and stiffened. "Stop them, stop Team Rocket, stop them," she muttered several times before she went completely still and stopped breathing.

"Well," Ash sighed, letting Johanna down slowly and closing her eyes. "One more to Team Rocket," he said, venom seeping into his tone. He looked down at his hands, not sure whether the coating of blood was his or the Ranger's. Wet, he thought, so probably Johanna's. He turned and looked at the Charmeleon. Much to his surprise, Mewtwo's purple hue had left the Pokemon's eyes, and Charmeleon still stared at the dead girl.

"So," said Ash, grabbing the Pokemon's attention. He stood up, eliciting a small growl from the lizard and took the empty pokeball from his belt, Fearow's old pokeball. "You think you can tolerate working for me long enough to kill the people who killed your partner?" _That is one big Charmeleon,_ Ash thought, guessing the Pokemon's length to be well over five feet from its nose to the thick base of its tail.

Still growling, more now loudly than before, the sides of Charmeleon's muzzle twitched up and down, exposing gleaming white teeth. The Pokemon sat on its haunches though, looking at Ash and slapping its tail around on the ground like a club. Ash took that to be a yes, and flicked the pokeball towards Charmeleon. The Pokemon made no effort to move away or dodge the ball, but simply sat still, staring at Johanna's body as the white light enveloped it.

_**I would not recommend using that Pokemon unless absolutely necessary,**_ said Mewtwo. **_We are still, after all, trying to avoid detection._**

"I know..." Ash answered. "I was actually wondering how you want me to take the machine down though." He watched as Pikachu's tail twitched once and Mewtwo failed to answer. "I see," he went on. "Torch it, attract all the ghosts at once, and hope they all fade back to wherever they came from before they get me, right?" Still, Mewtwo remained silent. "Don't worry about it, I'm committed," said Ash, walking back into the hall. "Regardless of how it ends, I'm ready for this to be over."

_**Good**_, said Mewtwo, slipping into silence as he lead Ash through the halls, passed horrific images and hallucinations defying description that Ash muscled through with guts turning and heart thrumming. After navigating a network of red brick hallways Ash came to a heavy steel door leading into a narrow, nearly black well the only feature of which Ash could see was a rusty, cast-iron ladder.

"Greaaaat," Ash muttered, leaning against the ladder and looking up the well into the black. "Let's go defenseless into the scary black confined space." A howl echoed down the well and made Ash shiver.

_**Maintenance access tunnel,**_ said the Psychic, hopping up onto Ash's shoulder. **_It is at the center of the tower, parallel to the innermost stairwell, so it will be stable. It will likely emerge on the roof or one of the uppermost floors allowing us to bypass dozens of floors that might otherwise be trapped._**

"Sure," said Ash, stepping out onto the ladder and listening carefully as the rungs groaned under his weight. He took a few steps up and one of the rungs snapped under his foot, filling the entire stair well with a resonating 'bang.' "Not how I pictured going out," he said, clutching at the ladder and continuing up. "But everyone has to buy it somehow I guess. There are worse ways. I guess this is better than growing old and sick and going out with a whimper." He laughed a little to try and ignore the howling wind echoing in the distance above him. "It's not quite as cool as saving the world, blowing up some secret bad guy base like in the vids but it works..."

_**You could survive this,**_ Ash heard. **_Being fatalistic only hurts your chances._**

"It's a coping mechanism," said Ash, dropping the subject.

As the howling picked up in intensity and began to manifest with both roaring screams and wind that dried Ash's eyes, the young trainer continued on, leaving all light behind him and climbing the ladder by guessing the positions of the rungs, feeling for them, and later by muscle memory. The hundreds of rungs seemed to blur together, aside from those dozen that snapped under his feet or slashed his hand as they gave under his weight. After thirty minutes of climbing and stopping more than once to check and make sure the cuts on his hands were manageable, Ash looked up and saw, what he thought was a crescent of less dark space in the black above him.

Reaching up, feeling nothing, climbing a bit farther, and feeling again for the ceiling, Ash quickly discovered that the crescent, actually subdued red light filtering in through a breach in the hatch capping the well. Taking a deep breath, Ash grabbed hold of the handle above him and heaved the heavy steel hatch up on decrepit and creaking hinges. Instantly buffeted by driving winds, Ash nearly lost his grip on the rusting ladder and scrambled for a footing. He pulled himself up and put one hand on the rough stone roof of the tower, high winds blasting him to his knees as he crawled from the well.

"Where?" he groaned, squinting as the wind instantly made his eyes water. He scanned all around him, trying to penetrate the whipping mist and see by the flickers of red light that came and silently went like will-o-the-wisps. Guided by the flashes, Ash tried to map the surface of the tower and find the machine. As near as he could tell, the roof was roughly circular, and maybe sixty yards across, leading him to wonder how the heavy stone and brick tower stood up to the winds with such a wide crown.

_**Don't fall,**_ said Mewtwo. Ash couldn't judge the level of cynicism in the Psychic's words. **_Look to your left, nine o-clock._**

Ash turned based on the Pokemon's suggestion and quickly caught sight of the silhouette sitting against the northernmost edge of the roof. _How is it staying on the roof?_ Ash wondered, immediately thereafter noticing that all of the black mists in sight seemed to be both flowing from, and swirling back to the sofa-sized machine. "There you are," he grinned.

_**Ketchum, look out, **_the Psychic barked through Pikachu.

Ash turned on his heel, watching as the black mists swirled in around him like a closing fist, exciting the silver barrier which leapt to life and vibrated furiously, holding the mist at bay just long enough for Ash to jump away. Reaching to his belt and snatching up two pokeballs. Snapping open, the pokeballs loosed Arcanine and Charmeleon, both of whom dropped to the ground with heavy thuds, finding their footing immediately even in the treacherous conditions.

As the two Pokemon glanced at each other warily and then around and at Ash, two red flashes, each the size of a fist, persisted and hung in the air only a few yards in front of Ash's team. The two orbs split down the center, forming black feline pupils as the mist coalesced into the twisted shape of a Gengar, snarling furiously and glaring at the two fiery Pokemon standing between itself and Ash.

Ash felt the words before he heard them, a terrible grinding in his head. "**Die Now**," the ghost screamed as its rows of teeth snapped together.

"Firespin!" Ash ordered, slapping Arcanine on his side. The canine bolted forward as his mane exploded into flame, burning eyes locked on the ghost. Arcanine's paws lit the ground as he charged in a blurring orange circle and whipped his tail at Gengar, all before the ghost could react. A jet of flame twined out of the flying embers and snapped out for Gengar, lancing through the ghost's frame and curling back to pierce it a second time.

Gengar screamed and Ash clapped his hands together. "Not so tough when you're in a real fight, you son of a bitch!"

Acting on Ash's unspoken order, Arcanine leapt up in the air and flashed, throwing out a thick wave of embers that seemed to set the air all around on fire. The burning flecks tore into Gengar's frame and seemed to tear the Pokemon apart as Arcanine landed, off balance in the wind. Gengar vanished in a puff of purple mist and Ash, turning as he heard the howling gale die off behind him, raised his arms to depend against the onrushing red eyes.

Forming a cannonball in the mist, Gengar plowed into Ash, breaking into vapor against the vibrating shield, but throwing Ash to the ground. His glowing shield disappeared in a flash and he, with a quick glance away, saw Pikachu drop and pass out, the purple glow gone from his frame. "Goodbye Mewtwo," said Ash quickly, scrambling to his feet and bracing for a second attack as Gengar charged and Arcanine just then regained his balance. The trainer gawked as Charmeleon scuttled into position between Ash and the onrushing ghost. "Flamethrower!" he shouted.

Charmeleon, digging all four legs worth of claws into the roof opened its mouth and lit up the mist with a roaring jet of flame that ripped into the ghost and scattered it into a thin ether. "Arcanine!" Ash yelled, pointing first to the glowing dog and then to the silhouette of the machine as the ether began to reshape, "tear that damn thing apart!"

Curiosity flitted across Arcanine's face but the canine charged off towards the machine. Gengar pivoted in mid air, still half formed, to track Arcanine. The ghost snarled and rushed to intercept the Pokemon, but another searing jet of flame from Charmeleon forced it to roll defensively to the side and refocus on Ash. "Bring it!" Ash shouted, new life flickering in his eyes. "Flamethrower!"

A third blaze tore through the air towards Gengar, this one connecting with and tearing away the Pokemon's entire left flank. Gengar only growled and kept coming, dodging and weaving towards Ash and diving for him when it came within range. Ash rolled away and Gengar changed course, attacking Charmeleon and morphing into a choking cloud of gas. The scaled Pokemon snapped its jaw shut and closed the flaps over its nostrils as the gas tried to force itself into the Pokemon's lungs. "Slash it!" Ash ordered.

Charmeleon's back legs lashed out, raking the air with bony claws but doing little more than scattering the mist around Gengar's eyes. The wingless dragon's muzzle began to blacken in the presence of the toxic gas, the smell of which drove Ash to tears. "Arcanine hurry!" Ash bellowed to a very confused Arcanine. The canine's illuminated form lit up just enough of the machine to reveal what looked like little more than a solid metal shell with a few flickering lights set low in its frame.

"Fireblast!" Ash ordered.

Arcanine's ears perked up and, as if the word triggered a conditioned response, the canine's jaw stretched open and a roaring inferno bellowed from within his frame. A solid rocket of flame blew from between Arcanine's teeth and opened up into a colossal blazing wall that washed over the machine and instantly heated it to glowing. Still Gengar accosted Charmeleon, maneuvering to encompass it completely and drown it in toxic fumes. Even as a light on the side of the machine nearest Arcanine blew out and left a sparking hole, the ghost kept after Charmeleon, leaving Ash praying that the Pokemon wouldn't join its first trainer.

From the sidelines a yellow bolt of energy crackled through the air, snapping into a net of electrical current and wrapped around Charmeleon's frame. Instantly dissipating through the cloud and crackling across Charmeleon's frame, the bolt of energy drove Gengar back into its vaguely human form and away from the lizard. Gaze bolting to the side, Ash saw a sparking yellow Pikachu charging into the fray, fur needled out and current charging for the kill. "Thunder!" Ash shouted.

Hissing like a viper, Pikachu stopped in midair and exploded in yellow light. A searing bolt of white hot energy, boiling the air before it slashed into Gengar's form and broke into dozens of daggers of energy that ripped apart every inch of the ghost, shredding it like paper and flinging out bits of ash and charred debris. At that same instant, a second blast of raging fire from Arcanine washed over and wrapped around Team Rocket's machine. Enveloped in what looked like liquid fire, the machine warped in on itself, seemed to begin burning and adding to the titanic flames, before caving in and then exploding into shrapnel and sparking mechanisms melting in the flames.

Pikachu dropped to the ground and swooned from exertion, laying down and shaking its head. Ash collapsed and covered his ears, pressing as tightly as he could to block out the sudden roar of wind that ripped at him. If his eyes had been open, the influx of black mist would have blocked out all light as it raced in towards the remnants of the machine and gathered into a single cloud the size of a melon. Feeling the warmth of Arcanine at his side and Pikachu's tingling fur bump into him, Ash grabbed hold of Pikachu and wrapped his free arm around Arcanine's neck as the canine hunkered down.

Opening one eye, Ash saw Charmeleon's hazy shape clinging to the roof as hurricane force winds whipped across the roof, tearing up unsecured stone tiles, pulverizing them in the air, and adding them to the unimaginably dense orb on the norther edge. A wall of black rushed passed Ash and wrapped up the orb like a skin, before it all vanished in an instant, leaving Ash's ears ringing in the new silence. Ash looked up, stunned but sighting Charmeleon immediately. He could see the sky, he realized. There wasn't a cloud above him. Pokemon Tower, he saw, actually stood above the clouds that hid everything beneath the upper floors of the structure.

"Wow," he whispered.

SC

Clutching at a lamppost, both arms wrapped with crushing force around the iron structure, Brock held on for dear life in the tornadic winds. He felt that his body armor was barely more than padded cloth in the winds, whipping itself towards Pokemon Tower in the gale and threatening to take him with it. A screaming corpse, animated by the ghosts, slammed into Brock's leg, clawing at the Gym Leader's boot before continuing on to be sucked up into the air where it vanished.

Then in an instant it was over. The trainer's ears rang deafeningly as he stumbled int to the street, thanking the sense he'd had to return Onix and Golem to their pokeballs as soon as the first monster lost its footing in the winds and rocketed skyward. "Arg, Misty!" he shouted, twitching at how loud his voice seemed. "You out there?"

Misty stumbled out of an alley, knuckled white as she clutched Blastoise's pokeball. "What - the hell - was that?"

"Hey," said Brock, grinning and raising one finger to point as he walked through the thin white mist. "The cuts on your face are gone."

Misty gasped and raised one hand up to her cheeks, tracing the lines where the lesions had run, and broke out into a tearful laugh. The skin still bore rough reminders, faint scars where the wounds had marked her, but the lesions had closed and for Misty, that was more than enough. "Thank god," Misty whispered. She looked up at Brock. "Let's go find Ash..."

Brock nodded, turning towards the large tower a few blocks away. "I'll bet anything this is all him, and he was headed that way."

Misty set off, without another word towards the tower, Brock in tow. The otherworldly mists, permeating everything, gave off enough light for Misty to successfully navigate the streets, and she quickly found herself standing a stone's throw from the big arched doors, leading into the tower. In a scene she could bare believe, a single human figure flanked by two big Pokemon and one small creature, sat with his back against the pillar running up the wall by the door.

Scratching Pikachu behind the ears, Ash turned when Arcanine looked up and barked excitedly, then got to his feet. He stared in utter disbelief as Misty and Brock emerged from the haze. "Misty?" he muttered, mouth dropping open. "Misty!" he laughed, beaming and hopping down the steps three at a time. In an instant he closed the distance between them and snatched the stunned girl up in a bear hug, spinning her around and holding her close. Likewise, Misty's arms closed reflexively around Ash's shoulders and she buried her face in his neck, not sure whether she was laughing or crying.

"I thought," said Ash, setting Misty down but still holding her to him. "I mean when you fell... I was sure you were gone." His smile widened even more, even as a tear dripped down his face.

"Me too," she said back, "about you, that is, and me too but..." she went quiet and fell against him, wrapping her arms completely around him. "I was scared to death," she whispered into his chest.

"Me too," Ash answered. He stroked her hair with one hand and hugged Misty close with the other arm. "I thought I'd lost you," he said.

The two of them just stood there for a minute, completely oblivious to Brock and the Pokemon, all of whom stared at them for only a second before looking elsewhere, as if on cue. Misty breathed several deep sighs of relief, a heartbeat thumping in her ears and drowning out everything else. _Is that mine or his_? she wondered.

Ash took in a deep breath, feeling like every fiber of his body relaxed on command. _I can't believe she's alright,_he nearly cried at the thought. He leaned back and Misty looked up at him. "Hey," Ash said bringing one hand up and holding her face, touching her cheek with his thumb. "The cuts are gone," he said.

Misty could barely nod, her chest so tight she felt like she'd implode. "Yep," she said, a grin fighting to stay on her lips. "Left some nasty marks though."

Ash shook his head. "Hadn't noticed," he said, tracing one of the faint lines with his fingers. "Just as beautiful as ever."

Brock could only smile and fold his arms in front of his chest.

SC

Red light from numerous torches reflected off polished marble floors and walls as the old crone walked quickly down the hall. The heavy metal doors closed behind her. Youthful vivacity evident in her steps, the facade of her age seemed to crumble away from her, leaving behind a wizened, but healthy and strong old woman. She came to the end of the hall, passing beyond the reach of the torches' light into the shadows gathered in the back, and bowed slightly at the foot of the obsidian throne, on which sat a figure wreathed in smoke.

"Lavender is secure," she said as she stood up. "Though the condition of the remaining townsfolk can't be spoken for." She paused as the figure's almost luminescent eyes glinted red in the subdued but bloody light. "It was worse than any of the Rangers or Outriders had said, and you were right to break tradition and have one of us investigate personally," she went on. "Team Rocket had indeed developed a machine capable of drawing ghosts into our world, but the technology was farther along than we'd feared and the ghosts were stronger and more malicious than any I've ever encountered. If not for the help of some young trainers traveling that way, the ghosts might have overtaken the survivors before the device could be dealt with."

"But Team Rocket's device was destroyed?" questioned the figure on the throne, his full but quiet voice echoing off the walls.

"Of course, Lance," said the old woman. "Though to be honest, it was not I who destroyed it." She cleared her throat and went on when Lance remained silent. "You recall Professor Oak? I met his grandson and two of the boy's companions along the road, Brock of Pewter – that guard who used to patrol here if you'll remember, and Misty of Cerulean. The four of us entered Lavender after I'd briefed them on what needed to be done, but the mission went bad as soon as we arrived at the Bonegarden. We were attacked and separated. Ash Ketchum made it to Pokemon Tower, but when the ghosts attacked in force I lost him in the fray. I tried to ascend the tower but the ghosts kept ignoring Ketchum to attack me and," she grinned just a little. "By the time I reached the top where Team Rocket had set up their machine, Ketchum had already destroyed it so I took my Golbat and left before he saw me.

"It seems that without the machine to hold them here, the lesser ghosts causing the plague have vanished and the victims of the disease have recovered almost as if by miracle. If we get the chance we should find a way to repay Ketchum. He saved hundreds of lives... possibly thousands. With as fast as the ghosts were spreading they could have reached as far as Saffron before I would have been able to stop them. I would also advise taking action against Team Rocket, now that we know for sure that they're up to something more than money-laundering and petty murder."

Lance shifted on his black throne. "We'll see," he said.

"I'll return to my post then," said the woman, bowing again and walking away. As she reached the big doors they opened before she could lay a hand on them and another woman stepped inside. She was tall, with pale skin and icy blue eyes. Her long cerulean hair glistened in the red light and she stopped.

"Agatha," said the new arrival respectfully. "My cousin is here?"

"Waiting for you I'd imagine, Clair. It's good to see you again child."

* * *

AN: Sorry about the late update. Stuff happens, yeah?

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, thanks to the usual beta, this would be a much shittier production without him.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: I am in no intentional way slowing down on this fic... just wanted to get that out there. The intervals between updates are a result of new hours at work to which I'm still adjusting. Anyway, thanks for reading!

Chapter 12 – Different Directions

His hands burned. Sitting in the predawn gloom, leaning his elbows on his knees, Ash stared down at his bandaged palms and flexed his fingers, making the tight cloth creak. He disliked not wearing his gloves, but both Brock and Misty had insisted that if the gloves wouldn't fit over the bandages, Ash would have to just go without. The young trainer watched as the swirling white mists, still a constant presence even here on the outskirts of Lavender, seemed to touch at his hands and trace along the gashes beneath the bandages like curious fingers.

"Thank god..." Ash whispered, turning from his seat on the tree stump to look at Misty, curled up in a sleeping bag a few feet away. He smiled and looked off towards the east, where he knew there should be mountains in the distance. It was still too early to tell whether the light he thought he saw in that direction was the precursor of sunrise, or simply the ubiquitous soft glow which seemed to come from everywhere within the fog banks.

"Huh?" he turned, not sure where the metallic clinking originated. It had been so quiet he wasn't sure he'd actually heard it. Turning to Pikachu, the Pokemon fast asleep and twitching as it dreamed, Ash paused and looked around again. He stood up when he heard the clinking again, a little louder this time, and glanced around the open park in which the party camped. Taking a few steps away from his sleeping companions he angled himself towards the nearby swing set. The sand of the small playground crunched under his feet as he stepped up next to the swings.

Reaching out, he grabbed the chain of the swing, and steadied the slowly swaying seat. "Whose there?" he turned around and scanned the mist. "Brock?" he asked. "Misty?" He stayed rooted to the ground for a minute and kept looking about. Exhaling quickly, his eyes locked on a single point in the gloom, apparently empty air. "How do you know my name?" he asked, pausing and waiting for an answer. Still, no presence manifested and Ash felt the back of his neck prickle. The air cooled and the trainer saw his breath as some inaudible voice echoed in his head. "Alright fine," he said. "I won't. Come on out."

A slight wind blew through the park and made the mist undulate silently. Two faintly glowing eyes appeared in front of Ash, and the mist around them darkened and reshaped itself into a floating mass. Transparent and blurring into the mist around its edges, the body positioned itself opposite Ash from his companions, and looked at the young trainer. A long smile, revealing a mouth ringed with purple teeth and leading into an infinite and empty space, split the ghost's face as its shape solidified and two disembodied hands coalesced in front of the body. From somewhere within the mass, Ash felt more than heard a quiet sound like a faraway voice speaking from beneath a pool of water.

"So," said Ash after a moment, crossing his arms and stepping back. "That was you in the tower, watching out for me in the beginning." The smiling face nodded without audibly speaking. "Well thank you, but, I guess, what do you want?" he asked, growing uncomfortable in the ghost's presence. "We're leaving this place as soon as the sun comes up."

The ghostly grin widened and Ash raised an eyebrow. "Whoa no," he said, raising a finger and shaking his head. "I said we'd be leaving at sunrise. 'We' doesn't include you... no it doesn't..." He frowned. "No it doesn't," he repeated. "And why can I even hear you?" he asked, noticing that the ghost's mouth wasn't moving. He paused and let the ghost communicate. The young trainer crossed his arms as the Haunter floated forward and pointed at him with a disembodied hand.

"I know you could be useful," said Ash. "But I don't know how well my friends would take it if I just let a ghost start hanging around us. Hell, I'm not sure how much I'd like it."

Undeterred, Haunter's shape grew dark and the ghost disappeared for an instant, reappearing behind Ash and floating back in front of him. Hovering there, Haunter phased in and out of view several times, prompting Ash more than once to glance about uncomfortably. "No," said the trainer, "I'm not sure I like the idea of you following me around, even if you are invisible- especially if you're invisible. Why are you so set on this anyway?"

For the first time, the smile on Haunter's face faded away and it sighed, filling the air with the smell of carrion. "Saved," the ghost whispered audibly, pointing at Ash. "Saved," it repeated, gesturing at itself. It floated forward and reached out for Ash. The trainer winced and shrunk away, after which Haunter paused. "Show you," the ghost breathed, slowly reaching out for Ash again. This time the boy remained still, feeling no malice from the ghost as the purple finger touched him on the forehead.

For a split second, Ash's vision went black and he felt himself fall, then land on something soft. His eyes opened of their own accord and he saw he was floating through the air above the streets of a city, Lavender he recognized. He tried to move, but remained on course, floating and watching people walk through the streets beneath him.

"Me," he heard Haunter's wispy voice from all around. "As I saw," finished the ghost.

Ash nodded, guessing that these were Haunter's memories. He waited and watched as people beneath him went about their business. Then suddenly from the northeast, smoke rolled throughout the city like a tsunami and Ash watched as healthy people took a single gasping breath of the mist and dropped over dead. He felt Haunter's horror and shock as the ghost looked around, reeling and trying to figure out what was happening.

The scene melted away and Ash was suddenly flying through the dark sky at breakneck speeds. Around him the black mists undulated and roiled like a tossing sea. He looked behind him and saw hundreds, thousands of snarling and laughing faces chasing after him, closing in on him with claws open to tear and rend. Ash turned forward and continued fleeing from the ghosts, seeing Pokemon tower loom up before him he felt Haunter's decision to hide there, until something else caught its attention. Haunter turned and saw that his pursuers had shifted their focus. Something else had entered Lavender, intruders. Instantly Ash felt Haunter's overwhelming urge to aid the interlopers.

Rushing after the spirits that had just been chasing him, Ash saw through Haunter's eyes as a few blurry shapes fought a battle through the skies, making their way towards Pokemon tower. As Misty fell from Fearow's back Ash's horror returned, watching as Haunter swooped down and snatched her up, setting her carefully on a nearby rooftop. The entranced trainer then followed the ghost through Pokemon Tower as Haunter made constant efforts to conceal Ash's position from the more malicious spirits. On more than one occasion Haunter redirected a group of ghouls away from Ash, pointing them towards the lower levels of the tower or sending them in circles.

And then the vision ended. Ash returned to his own body and found himself sitting in the playground sand, his back to a pole. He looked up at the silent ghost. He had stopped paying a terrible amount of attention to the visions when he watched Haunter rescue Misty from certain death. "Alright," he said as he glanced around, then turned back to the intently staring ghost. "If you really want to follow us around, I won't say anything- Just don't let the others see you!" he amended hastily.

Haunter did a back flip in the air and instantly turned invisible. Even after the ghost disappeared, Ash tracked the specter, feeling a strange presence wherever Haunter went. Whether by Haunter's will or not, Ash remained acutely aware of the ghost's exact position.

"This will be interesting," Ash muttered. Immediately he felt in the back of his mind, in a fashion similar to Mewtwo's psychic communication, Haunter agreeing with him.

SC

Ash caught himself worrying about, of all things, how he must have smelled. After the battle through the Bonegarden, the horrors of Pokemon Tower, the fight with Gengar on the roof, and the general hardships of the road, Ash was sure that the smells of rust, old sweat, and dried blood must have hung around him like a noxious fog. Of course it didn't bother him, after days of it Ash had long since stopped smelling his own odor, but now that Misty rode on Arcanine behind him, her arms around his waist and her cheek resting on his shoulder, the thought concerned him.

If her dozing peacefully on and off was any indicator though, Misty was content with where she was, so Ash relaxed a little. With more than hygiene to worry him though, the young trainer glanced about at Brock who rode atop Onyx, Arcanine, and Pikachu who sat on Arcanine's head to keep watch on the road ahead. None of them seemed to notice, or at least expressed no signs of noticing, the ghostly teammate who rode along, huddled invisibly in Ash's backpack.

"I didn't mean to shut you down earlier," said Brock, breaking the mid-afternoon calm as the party trekked west. He turned to Ash. "But with everything we've been though, and given how close we are to Saffron, going there instead of Vermilion seems like the smart thing to do. Even if Bill's right and the city is a little chaotic right now it's still a city and we need to rest up some."

Ash nodded. "I know," he answered. "Saffron is a lot closer than Vermilion. Any port in a storm, right?"

"Right," said Brock. "I was just hoping I didn't come across as too abrasive when I said we should skip Vermilion and cut straight west."

"Nah," Ash dismissed the thought, "I won't hold it against you," he said and then paused as another thought occurred to him. "Saffron is good for another reason... once we're done there it's a short trip to just about anywhere else. We could keep going west to Celadon and then turn south from there to hit Fuchsia."

"We could at that," Brock thought aloud. "At any rate, thanks for everything in Lavender. Based on what you said, none of us would have made it out alive if you hadn't destroyed that machine... who would have thought Team Rocket had the technology to build something like that? Where the hell did they get it?"

"No idea..." muttered Ash. "Aliens?" he joked.

Brock laughed and shook his head. "Maybe," he said. "But seriously, if they have that kind of capability, what else can they do?"

_That's a question for Bill, or grandpa,_ Ash thought, reflecting briefly on his grandfather's complete lack of a public reappearance. _What are you up to?_Ash wondered, looking up towards the sky and thinking about Oak. _Where have you gone?_

Several hours later, after Misty had woken up and the group ate a late lunch on the move, all three travelers agreed that it would be best to push forward through the night, sleeping in shifts and moving as quickly as they could manage. To that end, Ash and Misty traded seats on Arcanine's back and Ash dozed in the saddle, resting on Misty's shoulder as she had on his, while Brock and Misty remained awake. When midnight rolled around Misty woke Ash so he could ride atop Onyx to guide the Pokemon while Brock napped for a few hours in the sitting recess at the base of the serpent's skull.

Trading two and three hour sleeping shifts on and off until sunrise slowly sapped all three trainers throughout the night, but ensured quick movement while allowing them all to avoid complete exhaustion. Still, by the time the sun rose and they stopped for a fast breakfast, all three found themselves sore and tense.

"Well," said Brock, as they set out again, "we should have crossed into territory claimed by Saffron early this morning so if we keep it up we'll hit the city proper by two, maybe three in the morning."

"If it means a warm bed and a hot meal," said Misty, "I'll travel through the night again."

"Same here," Ash agreed. "It'll be great to get out of these wilds."

"Another night on the road it is then," said Brock. "And, once we do get to Saffron," he added slowly as if he wasn't sure how to phrase his next statement. "I think I'm going to head back to Pewter and check on things there. I want to make sure my sister is doing alright at the gym."

"That might be for the best," said Ash. "Now that we have a flavor for what Team Rocket can do, making sure things stay solid wouldn't be a bad idea. You'll stick with us till we're done in Saffron though, right?" he asked. "We might need your help."

Misty nodded, "There's no 'might' about it," she said without thinking.

"Oh definitely," said Brock. "I wouldn't leave you guys hanging like that. I'll help out in Saffron however I can and then I'll take off for Pewter. And once I make sure things there are taken care of I'll contact you and we'll see about what I can do to help then."

"Thanks," said Ash, looking up at the Gym Leader. "That means a lot."

The hair on the back of his neck prickled as Ash felt Haunter grabbing his attention. The ghost emerged from the backpack, remaining invisible but somehow perceptible to Ash, and hovered beside Ash as the daylight faded. As evening progressed into night, while Misty took the opportunity to nap in preparation for her later watch and Brock slipped into silence, Ash began probing the extent of his connection with his newest partner. It seemed to Ash that, while Haunter could indeed communicate verbally with anyone, what served as a vastly more efficient exchange was Haunter's ability to create an empathetic connection with Ash, over which the two could exchange not only general feelings and perceptions, but also ideas as complicated as a mental image.

It startled the trainer how quickly he became accustomed to communicating without words with the ghost. When he asked Haunter if the specter could do this with anyone, Haunter denied the proposition. The ghost didn't know why, but it could communicate more clearly with Ash than with anyone it had ever known before. Haunter went on to point out that this was one reason the ghost insisted on coming along... while Haunter could pass on memories like it had to Ash to anyone, this link was completely new and the ghost wished to explore the possibilities.

Ash couldn't argue with the idea. He had no trouble seeing the potential of such an ally with whom he could silently communicate and coordinate. As the night went on, the hills that had surrounded Lavender gave way to relatively flat forest land that gradually thickened, until the canopy overhead blotted out the sky. When the party entered what they could rightly call a forest, Brock and Misty traded shifts, while Ash agreed to stay up until Brock woke up. Both Ash and Misty expressed concern for Arcanine and Onyx, both of whom had gone more than a day and a half without sleep, but Arcanine proudly refused to rest and require the trainers walk. If the Pokemon was fatigued, it didn't show. Onyx, while less enthusiastic than the regal canine, showed no signs of wishing to stop.

"We shouldn't be too far out from the city," said Misty, holding onto Ash from behind as they kept on. "It'll be nice to rest up for a while," she leaned against him and sighed.

"We've been through a lot," said Ash, "you especially. How're you holding up?"

Misty shrugged, but smiled. "Well, I'm alive... thanks to you by the way," she said, tightening her arms around his waist. "So I guess I could be doing worse. Thank you again," she went on, "for everything."

"You would have done the same thing for me," said Ash, breathing a contented sigh. "That's what friends are for."

Misty started to say something, but closed her eyes and remained silent for a moment. "Ash," she said after a long pause.

"Hmm?" toned the trainer. "What's up?"

"There's something," she began, stopping in mid sentence. She paused again and Ash said nothing, letting her collect her thoughts. "I've been wanting to tell you something for a while now," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "And I'm not exactly sure how to say it or how you'll take it but I don't want you to think-" she stopped again and again Ash let her have her moment. "I don't want you to think... how do I say this?"

"Don't get in a hurry," said Ash. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Right, then can we pretend I didn't say anything?" Misty asked. "While I think a little, I mean?"

Ash nodded. "Sure. Take your time," he said. "I'll wait."

As Misty went quiet behind him, Ash held Pikachu in his lap and scratched the Pokemon behind his ears. Pikachu chittered happily and gladly deferred keeping watch to the ever vigilant Arcanine. The massive canine walked steadily, though he constantly scanned the surrounding trees. Arcanine's ears remained up on point, as though he heard something beyond the chiming of the cicadas and crickets, leading Ash to wonder if his Pokemon sensed the ghostly presence. Patting Arcanine's flank to reassure him, Ash split his attention between playing with Pikachu and 'listening' to Haunter as the ghost circled the party, scanning bushes and peering into the blackness of the forest to watch for danger.

More than once Ash's eyes darted to one side or the other as Haunter pointed out the location of some small Pokemon, usually a Rattata or an insect, that remained perfectly still in the gloom to avoid the notice of the large Pokemon passing along the rough path. Even though he couldn't see the hiding Pokemon in the dark, Ash trusted that they were where he sensed them, and he smiled to himself some. _I could get used to this,_ he thought. It occurred to him, and he made no effort to communicate this point to Haunter, that it was likely his Savant heritage that allowed for Ash to so effortlessly communicate with the ghost. _Maybe there's something to what Bill had to say after all..._

As midnight rolled over into one o'clock, Haunter and thusly Ash, sensed something up ahead on the road. It was too far away for visual contact even under the best of circumstances, so seeing it at night was more than impossible for Ash. Haunter however was eager to investigate and floated ahead to look around. As the ghost got farther and farther away, Ash felt the connection between them fade gradually. It was still there, but much less loud in his mind. He felt Haunter over the link, conveying some thought of caution ahead... not danger, Ash thought, but definitely something or someone that merited alertness.

Ash woke Brock, startling Misty and Pikachu in the process, and told the party that he thought they were getting close to Saffron. When asked what made him think so, Ash simply pointed out that they'd been traveling about long enough and he thought he heard something up ahead. As they neared where Ash felt Haunter waiting, the young trainer's suspicions were confirmed. As the trainers rounded a slight bend in the path and came to the edge of a clearing in the dense forest, the path ran straight ahead of them, passing under an archway running between two masonry buildings on ether side of the road.

"That's the first checkpoint," said Brock, hopping down from Onyx and returning the serpent to its pokeball. "So Saffron itself shouldn't be more than a mile or two ahead..."

Ash scanned the roofs of the buildings and the walkway running between them. Two hundred yards of open terrain, like a long tunnel in the forest, separated his group from the checkpoint, but even from this distance, the guards were obvious. Two humans sat atop each building, while another patrolled the walkway. The windows of both buildings were lit, and Ash could see figures moving within. It made him uneasy, though he said nothing. He quickly remembered Haunter, who now hovered invisibly beside him, and decided to utilize this new ally.

_Check it out, we'll follow behind at a safe distance,_ he tried to convey the thought to the ghost. Immediately he felt Haunter acknowledge him and set out for the checkpoint. He grinned. _This is so cool,_ he thought.

"We should be careful," said Ash. "We don't know what's waiting for us up there."

Brock shook his head. "Usually it would just be a small patrol of guards from the city, but if Bill is right and Saffron is in the middle of some kind of gang war, who knows what's going on..."

"Warm bed," Misty reminded them both.

Brock and Ash nodded simultaneously, both suddenly seeing the merits of Misty's flawless logic.

"At the very least," said Brock, "we should try not to come off as hostile. It might be a good idea to let them know we're here before we come too close. That way nobody mistakes us for an ambush."

Ash quickly agreed. "Pikachu," he said, patting the little Pokemon on the head. "Care to shed some light on all of this?"

Pikachu squeaked and rubbed his paws over his cheeks. A spark leapt from his face and the Pokemon flickered like a florescent light coming to life, glowing brightly and casting a yellow sheen a full twenty feet ahead of the party.

"If that doesn't get their attention," said Misty, dropping her face against Ash's shoulder to shield her eyes from the light.

Via his link with Haunter, whom Ash knew had reached the checkpoint, Ash sensed an increased feeling of wariness. He thought he felt Haunter trying to convey that the guards at the checkpoint were startled, but the distance made the images coming over the link fuzzy. Ash swung one leg over Arcanine and dropped to the ground, keeping one hand on the Pokemon and running it through his thick mane. Pikachu leapt to Ash's shoulder and balanced against his neck, lowering his light to avoid blinding the trainer. Following Ash, Misty stepped to the ground and Ash patted Arcanine's neck.

"Shall we?" he asked, glancing between Brock and Misty.

Brock took point, setting off for the checkpoint with Ash and Misty behind him. As they came within a hundred yards of the buildings, everyone saw the figures atop the archway and on the roofs, had all hunkered down behind rough battlements, and Pokemon had appeared beside the them. Ash thought he saw a Scyther in the group, but couldn't be sure from this distance in dim lighting. He reached out and took Misty's hand, a gesture she welcomed by walking closer to him.

The door of the north building opened and spilled yellow light across the grass of the clearing as a figure walked outside. In a flash of white light, a figure sparking with red flame appeared beside the human and took the shape of a small horse. _A Ponyta,_ Ash mused as the figure climbed into the horse's saddle, _or a small Rapidash... either way._

The mounted trainer waited until Ash and crew had closed to within twenty yards of the north building, easily close enough to notice the figure on the horse was a tall woman sporting striking features and a well-used leather brigandine. Sleeves of thin chain mail glittered in the red light of her Ponyta as she held up one hand in a fist, a gesture to which the guards on the roofs of the buildings responded by hunkering down lower.

"Come no closer," shouted the woman. "Or we will use deadly force."

Brock and the rest of the party stopped immediately. Ash looked up towards the guards at Haunter's direction, quickly noticing that each man had in his possession, a heavy black crossbow resting on the battlements, aimed at Ash and his friends. _Great,_ he thought. _We walked right into the middle of a bunch of mercenaries..._

Brock cleared his throat and addressed the mounted trainer. "We're not here to start a fight," he said. "My friends and I have been on the road for days and we need a place to rest. If you could just let us by we wouldn't cause trouble."

The woman shook her head as she spoke. "Can't do that," she said. "I have my orders. No one gets into, or out of, Saffron, no exceptions. If you turn around and leave now we won't have any problems."

Ash could see Brock's face as the Gym Leader weighed his options and position.

"We're in no condition to make the return journey," said the Gym Leader. "We've come a long way, we're tired, and we're dangerously low on food and supplies. May we at least rest here a while? We can pay you well for any hospitality."

The woman's eyes brightened a little. "I think we might be able to strike a deal after all," she said with a smile. Stepping down from her mount, the woman took a few steps forward, meeting the party at the edge of the light flowing out of the building. She looked them over for a minute, then raised one eyebrow. "You look like hell. You sure you can afford our rates?"

Ash reached into the side of his pack, drawing a wary glance from the armored trainer, and produced a bundle of cash held together with a rubber band, the last substantial bit of money he could claim. "Will this suffice for the night?" he asked, tossing her the notes.

The woman caught them and thumbed through the bills. Looking up at Ash she carefully watched him for a moment, then smiled wryly. "Welcome to our humble abode," she said, slipping the money into a pocket in her brigandine. "You're welcome to stay the night, but come morning I'll have to ask you to leave," she said, turning towards the building, returning the Ponyta to a pokeball, and motioning for Ash and crew to follow. "I can't let you enter the city, and if you try, things will get messy, but other than that, you're our guests tonight."

Ash in the lead, the party followed the woman into the north building, entering a well lit and comfortable, if somewhat plain, parlor. Three men stood on alert, heavy black crossbows in hand, their backs to their recently interrupted game of cards. Ash noted both their weapons, and the two pokeballs each man wore at his belt.

"I'm Fey," said the armored woman. "And this is my operation you're intruding on," she added with a casual grin. "Now my orders from the city are to keep anyone from getting into or out of the city, which I will, but nobody said I couldn't make a quick profit in the process."

"You're working for the city?" Brock asked, crossing his arms. "I'd heard there was some trouble in Saffron, but I didn't know that the Gym was hiring mercenaries. What's going on in town?"

"You're kinda out of the loop, aren't you?" said Fey. She thought for a moment as her men went back to their cards. "Mike!" she barked. Instantly one man leapt up from the table and saluted. "Show our guests to the spare room upstairs," she ordered.

"Ma'am," said the merc curtly, stepping forward without complaint and waiting.

Fey turned back to Brock and tousled her hair around as she spoke. "Tell you what," she said, looking the Gym Leader over. "If you want to talk, then we can talk all you'd like. You two," she turned to Ash and Misty, "can find a bed and a shower upstairs. There's no hot water, but its clean. If you want anything to eat that you didn't bring with you, that'll cost extra."

"Thanks," said Misty.

Ash nodded towards the stairs on the other side of the parlor, and he and Misty set off, following their escort.

"So," said Fey, taking a seat on one of the chairs set around the parlor as Ash, Misty, and the other merc disappeared. She looked over at Brock who walked forward and sat opposite her. "What's a good looking Gym Leader like Brock 'the rock' doing out in this part of the world?" She grinned at him. "Why aren't you in Celadon or Pewter or somewhere civilized like that?"

Brock leaned back and relaxed into the chair. "Right now, more than anything I'm looking for information," he answered, unsurprised that she knew him. His reputation, thought the trainer, was probably what stayed her hand outside. "What can you tell me about what's going on in Saffron?"

"Direct much?" asked Fey, continuing before he could answer she said, "never mind. Nobody's paying me to keep secrets but I don't do anything for free."

Brock raised one eyebrow and smiled just a little. "I don't have much to offer as far as money goes," said the Gym Leader.

"Money only goes so far," said the mercenary. "I'm sure it's not your only asset anyway. Now, as far as Saffron goes, what have you heard?"

"Not much," Brock answered, getting down to business. "I'd come across some rumors that there was tension between the Psychics and the Fighters getting ready to boil over and that it was causing trouble in town. I've heard that the food crisis looming in the west and threatening to spread east isn't helping anything."

Fey nodded. "More or less," she said. "Anyone who knows anything has heard that years ago the Fighter's Gym came to Saffron and tried to out the Psychics. Of course, the Gym Leader Sabrina alone would have been more than a match for them, and together with her forces she completely subjugated the fighters, making virtual slaves out of them."

"I'd heard about that," said Brock. "The Fighters lost badly. No one thought they would ever fully recover."

Fey nodded. "Yep, and ever since they lost, the Fighters have been plotting revenge. Everyone knew it, but no one did anything since nobody thought the Psychics could lose, no matter how strong the Fighters got. Shit, everyone knows Sabrina is a goddess. She thinks- things explode, simple. But a few weeks ago things got less simple."

"How so?" Brock probed when the mercenary paused.

"The Fighters numbers skyrocketed overnight," she went on. "Somehow they'd been building up a fortune and hired a shitload of mercs and moved them into the city all at once. The Fighters and their new army started taking over key sites in the city... Silph Co. City Hall and places like that, and locking them down.

"Again though, Sabrina didn't do anything, arrogant idiot. She was going to rely on her powers... and her powerful backers, and her Pokemon to crush the Fighters, so she didn't care that they were entrenching themselves. The mayor cared though, and he started hiring mercenaries to form a militia to put the city under complete lock down... He didn't want the citizens, Saffron's workforce, fleeing, and he didn't want any more trouble from outside the city getting in, so he declared martial law just in case things got really bad. Me and my boys are one of those city-hired groups.

"Then the damnedest thing happened. Less than a week ago, all of the Psychics' powers just started fizzling out, working less and less often. Well, you can guess what happened the instant the Fighter's sensed a perfect opportunity to hit the Psychics."

Brock grimaced. "All hell broke loose."

"To understate it, yes. The Fighters attacked, the Psychics attacked, and everyone else was caught right in the middle. There's almost no reason to the fighting anymore. It started out well enough with well defined combatants and objectives, but once the citizens started taking side all that fell apart. Now it's just people wearing one color trying to kill everyone wearing a different color. Last I heard, the Psychics were getting the upper hand, but who knows how long it'll last." She paused for a minute. "With any luck, as long as the mayor can afford to keep me on the payroll," Fey laughed.

SC

The shower may have nearly frozen him solid, but as far as Ash cared, any semblance of normal civilization was a luxury he'd take whenever he could. The checkpoint had apparently been built with minimal comfort in mind, despite boasting a number of guest rooms on the upper floor. The mercenaries took up all but one of the rooms, the more comfortable ones, Ash guessed, but still, it didn't even occur to him that quarters in which the bed took up a third of the floorspace merited complaint. The communal bathroom proved a minimal annoyance however. The lack of shower curtains made privacy nearly impossible, and as Ash cleaned up as quickly as he could, he wondered if Misty had been given the privacy she deserved when she had used them earlier.

Quickly getting dressed, Ash walked out of the bathroom, glad that nothing he'd taken in with him had gone missing, and knocked on the door to the room he was to share with Brock and Misty. Standing in the well worn pajamas she'd last utilized in Cerulean, Misty opened the door and stepped aside to let him in. She greeted him as Ash walked in, shutting the door behind her and promptly going back to brushing out her still drying hair.

"You think it will be safe here tonight?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting the brush away in her pack as Ash sat opposite her, back against the wall. "That woman seemed a little quick to take our money and let us in for someone ordered not to let anyone passed."

Shrugging, Ash closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. "Whether or not we can trust her," said the young trainer, "there's a roof over our head, we've had something to eat, and there are other people here..."

"Point taken," said Misty, crossing her legs and fiddling with the thin comforter. "You sure you want the floor?" she asked. "You haven't slept in a real bed since Cerulean, and I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"I'm fine with it," said Ash, opening an eye. "Thanks though."

"I feel bad about always being the one to get the bed, or the couch or whatever we con people into letting us use."

"If you're that worried about it," Ash began, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets, "let Brock have the bed and you and I can sleep together down here."

"Uh," Misty stammered. "Well, I, see," she instantly began to turn a vibrant red. "About that-"

Ash twitched. "Oh," he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply-" now it was his turn to pause awkwardly and turn red. Both trainers sat there, opposite each other for a minute, saying nothing. Ash spoke first, grinning and reaching up to fiddle with his cap. "You know what I meant."

Misty stopped biting her lip. "Yeah, I do. And actually I wanted to talk to you before, I mean about, well... us." She stood up, crossing her arms in front of her chest and Ash instantly realized he could feel his heartbeat thrumming in his fingertips and temples. "I tried to tell you earlier," said Misty, shaking just a little, "but I didn't know how to say it without totally wrecking things up."

"Tell me...?" Ash wondered aloud, speaking without meaning to.

Again Misty bit her lip and turned slightly to the side, but went on when after swallowing the lump in her throat. "First, I need to ask you one thing," she said.

"Name it," said Ash.

"In Lavender I thought you were dead," Misty blurted, then took a deep breath and slowed some. "I thought you were dead and then when I saw you at the tower I felt like _I_ was alive again, like everything was perfect and the nothing in the world mattered. And I- I felt like you felt the same way." At some point, Misty had turned back to Ash and the two had managed to find their way into holding each other, though it seemed that neither noticed. "I just- I need to know if you did..." she said, then waited for a moment, watching as something sparked in Ash's eyes.

Misty's eyes went wide as Ash leaned close and kissed her. Practically falling limp against him, Misty's arms snaked around Ash's back as she closed her eyes and kissed him back, her mind blank. By the time Ash realized himself, he'd pulled her close, pressed her against him, and turned to lean Misty against the wall as he explored her lips, and by then his senses were so inflamed that reason seemed a candle against the sun.

Stopping to take a breath, Ash leaned his forehead against Misty's in a pause. His mind burned and every sense vibrated. The smell of the girl between him and the wall, the feel of her hands under the back of his shirt, the taste of her hungry breathing on his lips as she eagerly awaited another kiss... Ash could barely remember his name by this point, much less what he'd been thinking. Taking the initiative when Ash took too long, Misty pushed up, arching her back against Ash and kissed him again, completely blasting any concept of time from either one's mind.

"Answer enough?" Ash managed to mutter during another brief pause, only mildly aware that his shirt had somehow wound up on the floor.

Misty nodded. "Sure..." she muttered. "But would it have killed you to tell me back in Cerulean or something?"

Ash laughed once. "You know Brock could be back at any minute?"

Misty's fingers tightened in his hair a little. "Too bad," she said with a little grin.

SC

Sunrise arrived quickly, or so Brock thought. He woke up just before the first rays of dawn spilled through the open window of the strange little bedroom. As he sat up stretching and trying to be quiet, Fey stirred beside him, but didn't wake. Brock got out of bed, put on his pants and slowly gathered up his things. As he cracked the door to slip out, the Gym Leader stopped and took a look at the sleeping figure on the bed. Fey's tanned and weather-beaten appearance ended abruptly at her shoulders, and Brock couldn't help taking her in some more.

_I might have to look her up again,_ he thought as he slipped out the door and silently shut it behind him.

Turning as he heard something beside him click, Brock saw Ash shutting a the door to his room, also wearing only his pants and carrying a shirt, his pack, and a pair of boots in his free hand. The two looked at each other. Brock grinned devilishly while Ash cracked a smile and shrugged one shoulder. Brock then nodded and walked to the stairs at the end of the hall. Ash put on the cotton shirt and followed the gym leader.

"So," Brock said, patting Ash on the back. "That was the both of you, huh?"

Ash sighed and nodded. "That obvious?"

"Oh god," Brock rolled his eyes and started downstairs.

"What?" Ash asked, following the Gym Leader, smelling a hot breakfast below. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Downstairs the two trainers found the three guards from last night in the parlor. One was sleeping, one was eating a bowl of what looked like runny hash, and Mike was stood at the small butane stove in the corner, preparing another bowl of breakfast. The sleeping guard turned over on the couch and pushed his face into the cloth upholstery. From the serious droop in the cushions, Ash could only guess at how long people had been sleeping in shifts on that couch.

"Morning," said Brock, breaking the ice as both mercenaries turned to look at them. "Anything interesting going on today?"

"Hmph," Mike grunted, turning back to the sizzling hash in the pan. "Does 'exciting' include sitting around here on our hands and doing nothing?"

"Quit your bitching," sneered the man eating breakfast. "This is the easiest job we've had in months and it pays well."

Mike sighed and began stirring the meat in the pan more vigorously. "There are people dying in that city who could use our help and we just sit out here like-"

"Like what?" interrupted the second man, looking up from his meal. "Like mercenaries? Hired muscle?"

"Exactly," Mike muttered. "It isn't right."

Ash and Brock both made their way to the chairs opposite the sleeping mercenary. "Is it really that bad?" asked Ash, sitting down and pulling his pack around in front his feet.

"It's a goddamn killing zone in the downtown districts," said the second man flippantly, gesturing with his chopsticks. "And I say as long as we're out here and they're all in there, who gives two shits if we have it easy. The boss was looking out for us and I for one appreciate it."

Brock and Ash exchanged wary glances. "Maybe Saffron wasn't such a great idea," said Ash.

"Maybe," Brock consented, quietly and as much to himself as to Ash. "What do you plan on doing?"

The noisy merc interrupted again. "Your best bet would be to head to Lavender," he said. "Trying to cut north or south directly would take you through some of the worst wilds in the region."

"That's not gonna work," said Ash. "Lavender's a graveyard. There's no one left."

Both mercs turned and went quiet. "What?" they asked in unison.

Ash briefly summed up what had happened in Lavender, making sure to omit Haunter's and Mewtwo's involvement. He didn't think the men needed to know they had a ghost behind them watching for any funny business. "So you can see the situation we're in," Ash went on. "Going back through Lavender would take too long, and we don't have the supplies. We came this way to stop in Saffron and buy some materials for the road before we moved on."

Mike looked down at the pan before him and sighed again. "Well going into Saffron wouldn't do you any good. Like as not you'd just get yourselves mixed up in a fight that'd get you all killed. But... I'll talk to the boss and see if I can't convince her to send some food with you on your way."

"Sheesh," said the second mercenary, going back to his breakfast. "Always the goddamn humanitarian."

An hour later, Ash, Brock, Misty, and Fey stood in a circle outside the north building. The sun was on its way into the sky and a cool breeze blew in from the north, filling the air with the smell of the surrounding forests.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't wish you anything more than good luck," said Fey with a grin. "And thanks on behalf of the men for not starting anything up. It would have been a shame for us to have made you all look silly."

"Thanks for the shelter," said Brock.

"And the food," said Ash. "If we ever see you again, we'll owe you."

Fey crossed her arms. "Who knows," she said. "After this whole thing with Saffron quiets down we'll have to see."

The group went quiet for a moment. Everyone stood around, casting nervous glances between one another and not saying anything.

"Well," Brock broke the calm, shouldering his pack and shifting away. "I guess I'll be the first one to set off, since no one else seems ready to. Ash, Misty," he said, turning to his friends. "I'll see you two on the other side."

"Say hi to everyone in the gym for us," said Ash.

Brock nodded and turned away. Fey and the other trainers watched as Brock hiked to the edge of the woods, released Onyx from ts pokeball, and climbed atop the large Pokemon. Quickly finding/expanding a path, Brock and the serpent set off northeast, angling to make a large loop around Saffron as he'd promised Fey he'd do. After Brock vanished into the trees and the sounds of Onyx's slithering faded away, Fey turned back to Ash and Misty.

"Guess this is goodbye," said Ash. "Thanks for the rooms."

"Hey," said the mercenary, shrugging. "You seem like decent people, but don't go getting too friendly like we're already family." The corner of her lip tugged up. "Good luck," she said. "Really, try to be careful though. I'm not telling you to stay out of the city because I don't like you. Just swing around to the south, avoid the roaming mercs, and make for Route 6. It's the fastest way to Vermillion."

"Gotcha," said Ash, turning to Misty, then nodding off towards the treeline. "See ya!" he called to Fey over his shoulder as the two trainers walked away. "You know," he said to Misty, taking her hand in his when they were out of earshot and nearly to the trees. "For a greedy, hardhearted, opportunist, she seemed like a pretty nice person."

Misty smiled as Ash released Arcanine and the trainers climbed up on the Pokemon's back. Pikachu took up his position on the canine's head, Ash sat in front, and Misty held onto his waist. "Yeah," she agreed as Arcanine took a leap into the forest, aiming straight south. "It was a good night," said the girl, hugging Ash from behind.

Grinning smugly, Ash cleared his throat. "About last night," he said, blushing a little as Arcanine picked up some speed and the forest began to roll passed them. Ash couldn't bring him to finish his sentence.

"Yes," Misty probed, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Was that?" he began, breaking off again. "Hah," he laughed a little. "Does that mean we're together from now on?"

Misty couldn't contain a tiny squeal as she beamed. "Well duh."


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Unlucky 13... as a somewhat superstitious person I'm curious to see how this one goes. Also, to answer a few inquiries and make a few shout-outs, thanks to all of you who reviewed and pointed out both what rocked and what could use some improvement.

For 'Someone Following Your Work,' no, I didn't model this after the current political situation in Thailand, so any similarities are unintentional and coincidental. (For what it's worth, I do hope to see the situation resolved as peacefully as possible, as soon as possible.)

* * *

Chapter 13 – Taking the Initiative

"My mom and grandpa were on a caravan headed to Pallet from Viridian. Grandpa hired a bunch of trainers to protect the caravan on its trip south, and one of them just happened to be my dad," said Ash as he watched the low flames of the aged campfire smolder. He grinned a little. "Mom told me she fell for this one guard, love at first sight, and started hanging around him. By the time they reached Pallet, well, they were basically together by default."

Misty nodded. The two trainers sat beside each other, leaning against a lightly dozing Arcanine. Pikachu sat by the fire a few feet away, watching the darkness and vigilantly scanning for any threats. Ash relaxed, confident that between Pikachu's constant sniffing around, Starmie hovering overhead, and Haunter's regular patrols of the surrounding woods, that they were as safe as they could be here in the wilds. Ash exhaled, enjoying the relative calm of the night, the feeling of his arm around Misty's shoulder, and the chirping of insects in the forest.

"So," Misty smiled over at him. "Just like that?" she said. "Your parents met in Viridian, traveled for a week to Pallet, then decided to get married and start a life together?"

Ash shrugged. "Life is short," he said, taking the question more seriously than Misty had intended. "Most people on the frontier don't have a lot of time to mull over decisions like that for a long time. You've got to make the best call you can in the least time you can." He stopped and glanced down at her. "Besides, I'm pretty glad they decided not to wait."

Again Misty nodded. A joke crossed her mind but she just put the thought away. "Me too," she replied.

Both trainers watched as Pikachu gave up his sniffing for danger. The small Pokemon seemed almost disappointed as it sat down beside Ash and began cleaning itself. Arcanine trembled in his sleep a little, dreaming, Ash thought. The trainers both knew Arcanine could get as much rest from waiting in his pokeball as he could from sleeping outside, but the warm canine's presence was a nice additional layer of security.

"So what-" Ash began, intending to ask about Misty's family before he remembered that he already knew most of the story... and had no desire to dig any further. Misty looked over at him, curious. "Nothing," said Ash. "Lost my train of thought," he added. When Misty nodded and dropped her head on his shoulder, he looked up at what little he could see of the stars through the canopy. It had been a full day since they left Fey and her mercenaries behind, and for the entire journey, Ash had been trying to come up with a way to tell Misty about Haunter. The ghost, a surprisingly social creature for an undead spirit, had expressed no misgivings about the idea, imparting to Ash the idea that it wouldn't be a bad idea for Misty to know, if only so she wouldn't be surprised if Haunter were to suddenly appear.

_Maybe I should just tell-_ Ash thought, stopping as Haunter's empathetic link rocketed to the forefront of his mind. Immediately Ash was acutely aware of something approaching from the northeast. Over the link Ash saw a crystal clear image of a long snake, betrayed by its hood as an Arbok, slithering silently through the grass. Hovering like a ghost beside the Arbok and keeping behind the snake was another shape, a Weezing.

_These two again,_ Ash thought, the hair on his neck bristling. _Fat chance they'll get the drop on us this time. _He directed his thoughts at Haunter. _Slip behind them, when I hit them from this side attack from the rear. If we draw out the trainers and you get a chance, take them out. The ambushers will walk right into an ambush, eh?_

Haunter acknowledged the instructions with a giddy laugh and slipped instantly into the shadows, relaying the intruders' positions to Ash as it stalked them from behind. When the Arbok closed to within fifty yards, Ash nudged Misty. "Hey," he said, breaking her out of her quiet daze. When she looked up at him he put one finger over his lips. "We've got company," he whispered, nodding off behind them. By now Pikachu had stirred and sniffed around curiously, undoubtedly smelling Weezing's stink, he thought.

"Where?" asked Misty, reaching for a pokeball.

"Northeast," whispered Ash. "Keep your Pokemon back for defense. I'm going to send Pikachu and Arcanine at them."

"Right," Misty nodded, muscles tensing. Her eyes narrowed and Ash watched as his companion's entire demeanor changed in front of him.

Arcanine woke even before Ash nudged him with his elbow. No sooner had his eyes opened than was Arcanine on alert, ears twitching as he sniffed the air. The intruders closed to twenty yards and Ash put a hand on Arcanine to keep him from reacting and blowing the surprise.

"Smell that?" Ash said to the canine. He picked up Pikachu, by now completely aware of some nearby danger, but remaining quiet for Ash's orders. "Arcanine left, Pikachu go right," he said in barely more than a whisper. Ash felt his heart beating. Something wasn't right. Haunter reported that the closing Pokemon had slowed to little more than a crawl and Ash felt his blood freezing. Misty sat beside him like a coiled viper, ready to snap into action. _No time for hesitation,_ he thought.

Without a word Ash and Misty bolted up in unison and Arcanine leapt to his feet with a thunderous bark. Ash threw out his arm and Pikachu leapt from his fingers into the air, his cheeks flashing like the sun, illuminating the forest before him and revealing Arbok and Weezing like stains on a photograph. As Blastoise appeared from a white flash and materialized behind the trainers, Arcanine tore forward, circling towards the dazed would-be ambushers, while Pikachu leapt to a branch and hissed like water falling into a hot pan.

Liquid fire boiling in his eyes, Arcanine roared and threw himself at the Arbok. As the snake recoiled from the surprise attack Arcanine's jaws closed around one side of Arbok's hood. Latching on with his front paws and kicking with his powerful hind legs, Arcanine tore at the writing serpent's coils. Pikachu simultaneously closed on the Weezing like an arrow, flashing brilliant white as a bolt of lightning arced between the two Pokemon. Weezing croaked out a complaint and turned on Pikachu, twitching, vision blurring from the jolt.

"Good start," said Ash, glancing over his shoulder to watch for a flanking enemy. He saw Blastoise do the same at Misty's direction while Arcanine and Pikachu forced the Arbok and Weezing to give up ground. _Watch for a good opening,_ he thought to Haunter. _Try to stay under the ra-_

A blinding flash of light stunned Ash. Spots flashed in his eyes as some enormous shape appeared in front of him. "The hell?" he gasped, trying to throw himself backwards and reach for Charmeleon's pokeball. Roaring as it materialized, the Charizard wheeled around on Ash and snapped at him. Ducking and falling to the ground Ash watched the jaws crash shut above him. The massive flame tipped tail came smashing down on Ash's shoulder, crushing him into the ground and cracking his armor like an eggshell. Kicking himself backwards Ash avoided the jaws as the Charizard snapped twice more at him, both times missing by paper's thickness.

Darting around Misty gasped and pointed at the winged Pokemon. "Hydro Pump!" she shouted.

Blastoise acknowledged the order and dropped one elbow to the ground, angling its cannons at Charizard. After missing another snap at Ash, the Charizard turned on Blastoise and leapt forward, jaws wide in a shrieking roar. Blastoise fired not an instant too soon. The jet of water slammed dead into Charizard and blasted the Pokemon to the ground. Shaking like an enraged hornet the Charizard rolled from its back onto all fours and faced Blastoise, tail flailing.

Ash went for Charmeleon's pokeball again, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder. He unclasped it from his belt and moved to throw it, dropping it instead as his feet slapped together and bolted up off the ground. Ash's head smacked against the ground, making his vision flash and his world spin. Casting about as something hoisted him up like a hog in a butcher's shop, Ash saw a vine had whipped around his ankles and dangled him above the gaping maw of some huge plant.

_Oh... a Victreebell_, he thought through his daze, not noticing the white light beside him.

Charmeleon flashed into existence, taking a moment to look around. It saw Misty first, the trainer ordering her Blastoise to attack a Charizard. The great duel immediately drew Charmeleon's attention. Fire flashed in the younger Pokemon's eyes to see such a challenge. Charmeleon turned on the Charizard, ignoring Ash's plight, and bellowed its war cry.

_I can't believe it,_ Ash thought. "Help!" he shouted.

The word echoed into the forest, registering in Arcanine's ears and drawing the canine's attention like a beacon to Ash. Staring down the badly wounded Arbok became a non-issue and Arcanine reeled around and bolted for Ash before his cry for help had even registered in another ear. Taking the opportunity, Arbok lashed out and Arcanine yelped.

Pikachu glanced away from Weezing only long enough to take in what happened. The little rodent saw Arcanine first, down on three legs, Arbok biting deep into the canine's flank, and then the chaos beyond. Charmeleon had engaged the Charizard, utterly ignoring and nullifying Blastoise's attempt to subdue the fiery lizard, as Blastoise seemed unwilling to risk friendly-fire. Misty looked to have just spotted Ash and- Pikachu's attention locked on his trainer. Chittering madly, Pikachu bolted from the tree branch, not caring about the Weezing's boiling sludge, which had only barely missed him.

Releasing Arcanine rather than risk being flayed alive by the canine's good leg, Arbok whipped around and snapped at Pikachu. The rodent vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared behind the snake. Pikachu attacked with a Thunderbolt, sacrificing the energy to buy Arcanine a split second. The huge canine rocketed forward, seemingly unharmed by the wound in its flank, and chomped at the slow-acting Victreebell. Ash dropped to the ground with a thud as Victreebell's vines dripped into mush before Arcanine's rending claws.

Knowing fire outmatched it, the Victreebell attempted to fall back but Arcanine's jaws tore into its bulbous body. Eyes and muzzle flashing with light, fire exploded from Arcanine's jaws and blasted directly into the breech in Victreebell's tough shell. Shriveling like burning weed, the Victreebell flailed away and burst into flame, smoke and charred plant matter shooting out from its mouth. Without missing a beat, Arcanine positioned itself between a dazed Ash and the rest of the action. The canine swooned, but remained standing.

Playing like a cobra and a mongoose, Pikachu and Arbok dodged and wheeled around each other. Snapping into and out of sight the duel intensified. Arbok would whip forward and coil around Pikachu, the rodent disappearing just before the coils tightened and threatening to fry Arbok with a Thunderbolt only for the snake to dodge away at the last instant. Charmeleon and Charizard scrambled over each other, clawing, biting, slashing, blasting with fire. Charmeleon had rent open the Charizard's left wing and Charizard had sunk its teeth into Charmeleon's hind leg. Hot blood splashed the ground as the two tore at each other and Blastoise waited patiently and methodically for a chance to strike.

Misty hid behind Starmie, dodging and weaving away from the vines that slashed out of the dark foliage at her. In the brush she made out the lumbering shape of a huge Pokemon... probably a Venusaur. The vines hacked at her and Starmie, the aquatic Pokemon taxed to its limits in trying to defend both itself and its trainer.

Watching in dismay as the battle turned against them, Ash reached out for Haunter. _Hit the Charizard,_ he thought, locating Haunter and detecting through the ghost that the two trainers directing the fight were too far away to be an immediate priority. _Kill that damn thing!_ He felt Haunter acknowledge the order and tracked the ghost's movement as it came zigzagging out of the forest like death itself. Ash shivered at the new side of the ghost.

Stumbling as though hit by a truck, the Charizard fell backwards and began convulsing, cutting at itself with its claws. Both Blastoise and Charmeleon hesitated, unsure of what was going on. Ash knew though. He could feel so acutely, almost see, Haunter had shot into Charizard through the dragon's mouth and nostrils and begun shredding the Pokemon from the inside out. The trainer had to turn away from the scene, feeling both Charizard's draining life force and Haunter's waxing blood lust.

"Charmeleon!" Ash shouted, his head clearing. "Take out that Venusaur!"

Charmeleon looked up, like a fog lifted from its mind, and turned to Misty and Starmie, seeing the vines whipping out of the darkness at them. The fiery Pokemon sneered at Ash, as though it found the order offensive, but the trainer's steady and icy gaze brought Charmeleon quickly to heel. Scuttling forward the lizard charged into the darkness with a cry of rage, jaws opening and blasting the nearby trees with a thin curtain of flame.

Immediately Ash spotted the Venusaur as Charmeleon's fire lit up the foliage. The lumbering Pokemon stepped back, recoiling from the heat and turning its attention on Charmeleon. The fiery lizard leapt through the air, all four limbs poised to grapple, and landed on the Venusaur. Charmeleon's claws blurred as it tore and ripped at its enemy.

"That fight is over already," Ash muttered, looking passed Arcanine to the duel between Charizard and Blastoise. That fight was over also. Charizard collapsed and blood ran like water from its mouth and nose. Its glassy eyes went dark staring up at Blastoise as the big Pokemon's bulk slammed down on Charizard's skull. The fiery Pokemon's head deformed with a horrid crack and both Ash and Misty looked away, though Ash turned back when he felt a soul numbing cold.

"Oh no," he muttered. Haunter, though invisible, was as clear as day to Ash, who felt the ghost's presence like a malign rush of wind. He traced Haunter as the ghost glanced around, and the trainer immediately knew the ghost was not the Pokemon he'd met in Lavender. _Stop,_ he tried to tell it when Haunter turned its attention on Misty and began to invisibly stalk towards its new target. _Stop! _he repeated, sensing that Haunter had heard noting.

_**STOP!**_ The word tore into Haunter like a javelin as Ash directed all his will at the ghost. Haunter twitched, phasing quickly in and out of visibility behind Misty, before reverting back to invisibility and reestablishing the empathetic link with Ash. The young trainer couldn't see the ghost, but he felt something akin to excessive guilt and shame radiating from the Pokemon. _Easy, _Ash thought. _Back off for now._

Haunter took a floating step back into the woods and informed Ash that the other trainers, a man and a woman, were quickly retreating while another Pokemon, a small feline was rushing up to the fight. It took Ash a moment to process what was happening, but he pulled himself to his feet and leaned on Arcanine as the Charizard's corpse and the Venasaur disappeared in flashed of white light.

_The Meowth,_ Ash remembered. Jesse and James had a Meowth with them in Viridian. They had sent the stealthy little Pokemon to facilitate a retreat. _Stop the cat!_ Ash shouted mentally at Haunter.

Misty looked around in surprise as the forest seemed to go suddenly quiet. She looked over at Ash and Arcanine, then between Starmie and Blastoise. "Is it over?" she asked. "Where'd they go?"

Ash didn't answer, he was trying to track Haunter as the ghost chased after a Pokemon, definitely a Meowth, that dodged and weaved to avoid the ghostly pursuer. "Damn it's quick," thought Ash as he saw through Haunter that the Meowth retrieved the Arbok and Weezing, suddenly ending Pikachu's fight and leaving the rodent reeling in confusion. _Stop the Meowth!_ Ash ordered. _Don't let it get away-_ He hesitated as Arcanine gave out beneath him and collapsed.

Catching himself, Ash knelt down by the canine and put his hands on the Pokemon. "What's going on?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

Arcanine didn't respond. The big Pokemon panted and had begun to twitch as though he were gripped in a nightmare. Ash pulled his hands away and felt them soaked with Arcanine's sweat. "What's the matter?" he repeated, beginning to panic.

Beside him in a flash, Misty put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Ash nodded. "Fine," he muttered. "Something's wrong with Arcanine though. _What's going on out there?_ he asked Haunter.

The ghost reported that the Meowth was making for a clearing in the forest, and asked Ash what he wanted it to do. Ash looked down at Arcanine, noting the Pokemon's panting and sweating, and then finding the two deep puncture wounds on the canine's rear flank. "Shit," he hissed. "He's been poisoned." _Fuck the Meowth, _he thought to Haunter. _We'll have other chances to take those bastards out. Get back here._

Blastoise meandered up to Misty while Starmie hovered protectively above. Misty looked up at Ash and took a quick breath. "Poisoned?" she asked. "Did you see what bit him? These wounds are huge."

"An Arbok," Ash answered as Haunter and Pikachu emerged from the trees. The ghost and the rodent both approached Ash and took defensive positions on either side of him and Misty. "That big one we fought back at Bill's came back."

"Arbok venom is deadly," Misty said, her demeanor hardening further. "And we don't have any anti-venom. Ash, Vermilion isn't far away and we might make it there before sunrise if we hurry. Put Arcanine in his pokeball and we'll make a rush for it. The center there will be able to treat him but not if we don't hurry."

Ash nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. Arcanine was burning up beneath him, but Ash stood up and returned Arcanine to the pokeball. As soon as the white flash faded, Ash turned to Misty. "How fast is Blastoise?"

"Not as fast as us over any long distance," she answered. Blastoise disappeared in a white flash, along with Charmeleon and Starmie. "You ever run a marathon?"

Ash didn't answer. He paused only long enough to get his bearings and point off to the south. "This way," he said.

Misty nodded and both trainers jogged off into the forest, Pikachu in front and Haunter keeping watch from behind. Less than twenty minutes later, Ash felt his lungs began to burn. The terrain, the foliage, past fatigue, and the end of an adrenaline rush began to eat away at his considerable stamina. Slapping through the undergrowth slowed their progress, weaving between trees slowed their progress, and Ash's mind began to race. He knew that even inside of a pokeball, Arcanine wouldn't be immune to the effects of the poison. As time ticked by and the party reached the two hour mark in their forced run south, Ash tried to hurry their pace.

"Slow down," Misty reminded him, jogging just beside Ash. "We need to stay steady. Alright?"

"Right," Ash puffed. "Gotcha." Misty's voice had remained even, but Ash could pick up the growing frequency of her breathing. He felt the sweat rolling down his back and the salt stinging his eyes. _To hell with it,_ he thought. As he jogged he reached up and unfastened the buckles holding his broken armor in place. _It's useless now anyway_, he thought, dropping the protective layer to the ground and continuing on his way.

Losing the extra weight helped, but it could only do so much. As they continued on, Ash and Misty stopped keeping the time. Both trainers felt their muscles burn and their chests ache as they kept on. Neither was in any way out of shape, but the hours and the inhospitable terrain slowed them down and sapped their already dwindling energy. Ash felt his mind getting fuzzy and his legs going numb. He could no longer tell if he was even sweating from the exertion.

The forest gave no warning that it was coming to an end. The trees simply opened up around Ash and Misty as they broke passed the edge of the treeline and into a clearing. They both stopped for a moment to catch their breath, and get their bearings. "There," Misty pointed directly to the south. "There is it."

Ash, bent over and resting his hands on his knees, looked up. From their position on the edge of the forest, Ash and Misty both saw that the land angled steeply downwards. Under the moonlight and from the pinpoints of light in the city, they both made out the borders of a large town running along the coast to the south less than a mile away.

"Vermilion," Ash muttered. The city was long but shallow, following the coast but rarely progressing more than a block or two inland. The buildings, he saw, were squat and never higher than three stories. Some were built on the edge of the water, and a few were built on artificial islands set a few dozen yards out in the bay. The Pokemon Center, even from this distance, was easy to spot. The moonlight made its big red roof stick out prominently. "C'mon," he said hoarsely. "We got lucky and ran right into it."

Already too exhausted to feel much additional fatigue, Ash and Misty closed the distance between themselves and the city quickly. Vermilion had no walls, so there was no obstacle to check their movements as they entered, passing by a few residential buildings and angling for the small Pokemon Center. As they moved at a hurried walk, Haunter grabbed Ash's attention, pointing out the numerous people watching them as they passed. Ash looked around, taking stock of all of the people laying, sleeping, and sitting in the streets of the city. _They're all homeless,_ he told Haunter. _Don't bother them and they shouldn't bother us. _Ash nodded when Haunter noted that there seemed to be far too many people without homes here. _We'll think about it later,_ Ash closed the matter as he and Misty walked through the automated doors of the Pokemon Center.

Giving both trainers pause, this hospital seemed remarkably different from those others they'd encountered elsewhere. It seemed smaller, and dirtier. Whereas all of the other Pokemon Centers had been big, well lit, and immaculate, Ash and Misty both stopped and looked around, noting that the receptionist's desk sat in the middle of the dingy room under a chandelier holding more burned out lights than working ones. Chairs and poorly maintained sofas lined the walls and dotted the floorspace, though most were occupied by people who were poorly dressed and obviously dirty. Some had small Pokemon beside them and others slept alone.

"This is the Pokemon Center, right?" Misty asked Ash, whispering to him. She looked passed the front desk and off towards the emergency wing.

"Has to be," said the other trainer, advancing quickly to the receptionist. He cleared his throat to get the girl behind the desks attention. "Excuse me," he said in a rasp. He cleared his throat again, realizing his run had left his voice on the verge of giving out.

The young woman, hiding behind big circular glasses and pink locks that hung down to frame her face, jumped at the sight of the newcomers and put down the book she'd been reading. "Oh," she started, cautiously looking over Ash and Misty. "I'm sorry but we don't have any more room. If you need a place to stay for the night I don't think I can help you." Her voice struck Ash as almost timid.

"Right now we only need a doctor," said Ash, fighting to get his voice back. "My Pokemon's been poisoned and he needs treatment."

"Oh my," said the woman, quickly getting to her feet and straightening out her wrinkled nurse's outfit. "The two of you are trainers then?" she asked.

Ash nodded and Misty spoke up. "Of course we're trainers. Why would we come to the Pokemon Center if we weren't?"

"And that means you have some money then?" asked the pink haired girl. "You can pay for treatment?"

"Listen," said Misty, stepping up beside Ash. She glanced at the nurse's faded name tag and then glared at her. "Joy, are you going to help us out or not? We have a Pokemon who isn't going to make it until morning without help, so either take us to a doctor or tell us where the hell we can find one."

"I'm sorry," squeaked the nurse, hunkering down behind her desk. "I'm very very sorry. But there isn't much I can do. The last real doctor left Vermilion weeks ago and ever since then the Center has been a homeless refuge. We ran out of supplies days ago and there isn't much I can do without any money. Me and my sister are all that's left of the staff. Please don't cause trouble. I don't have anything to give you."

Haunter quickly drew Ash's attention to the dozen or so people in the lobby who had woken up and now watched the exchange. Ash glanced around at all the faces, unable to miss the fear written in their eyes and evident in their postures. His glance lighted across one particular little girl, a lone figure hiding in the shadow of a sofa, watching his Pikachu with horrified awe. Ash felt his heart skip. The little girl was dressed in clothes that he could barely call rags, as were many of the people throughout the room.

"Please," said Ash, as kindly as he could when he turned back to nurse Joy. "My Arcanine has been poisoned by an Arbok and he really needs help. Anything would be better than nothing." His tone became softer and drew Joy's attention. The nurse looked up at him and Ash could see thoughts turning over behind her sharp eyes.

"Poison," said the nurse, eyes flitting from side to side. "Maybe," she stammered, getting to her feet and turning her shoulder defensively to the newcomers. "No promises, but maybe there's something in the back," she said. "I remember trying to sell it but I couldn't find anyone willing to trade. This way." she motioned for Ash and Misty to follow.

"Sometimes you've got to be nice," whispered Ash, nudging Misty as they followed the nurse.

Misty shrugged. "I softened her up for you," she whispered back.

SC

"Oh my... ... oh my," said Joy, looking over Arcanine's big form. "This doesn't look good at all."

Ash, Misty, and Joy had all made their way back to a small room with an operating table. Glass medicine cabinets, empty by far and large, lined the walls and a cabinet sat in one corner. Ash had released Arcanine onto the table and the trainers had then worked to get him carefully positioned for Joy to examine.

"The poison's already done a number on him," said the nurse, holding Arcanine's eyelid open and watching as his pupil's dilated and contracted in rapid succession. The nurse reached over to a light fixture on the wall and flicked a switch, further illuminating the little room. "But Arcanine have a natural resistance to toxins," she went on and opened up a cabinet, looking through tiny bottles as Ash and Misty stood by. "Their bodies run at temperatures that would kill humans and most other Pokemon which helps their immune systems to break down poisons and infections into harmless-" she stopped as she read the label of a glass bottle.

"Can you help him though?" asked Ash, crossing his arms and swallowing the lump in his throat. Misty stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze.

"Possibly," said Joy, brushing her hair behind her ear and pulling a plastic bag full of clear fluid from a drawer in the cabinet. "Here it is," she said. In a flurry of motion, Joy set up an IV drip beside Arcanine and attached the tube from the plastic bag to a needle she slid through Arcanine's pelt and into a vein beneath. "I remember a Charmander came in here while I was still in training a few years back," she went on, speaking now mostly to herself as she worked to to fill a syringe from the the glass bottle. "How much does your Arcanine weigh?" she turned quickly to Ash.

"What?" Ash twitched.

"This is potent," said Joy, nodding to the anti-venom. "Too little will be useless, too much might make it worse. How much does Arcanine weigh?"

"Uh," he stammered. "I don't really know..."

Joy looked down at the big canine, eyes quickly memorizing his frame. "We'll be conservative," she said after a moment, drawing sufficient anti-venom into the small syringe to fill it halfway. Joy inserted the needle into a junction in the IV tubing and pushed the plunger, quickly emptying the syringe. Arcanine remained absolutely still.

"It will take time," said Joy, preempting Ash's thought process. "Arbok venom is a potent neuro-toxin and your Arcanine's likely sustained severe damage to the Potassium channels that keep his motor-" Joy fell silent. She glanced at Ash who had gone completely stone-faced, and Misty who only watched her with an expression the nurse couldn't read. "This should prevent any further damage," Joy continued. "Once Arcanine is stable I can see about getting him some more focused treatment to put him back on his feet if I have the resources."

Ash nodded, but it was Misty who spoke up. "So there's nothing more we can do until he stabilizes?"

Joy shook her head and took a seat in a chair opposite the trainers and the Pokemon. "Afraid not..." she said. "If I had more resources then sure, definitely, but as is I'm barely equipped to let people sleep on my couch, much less treat conditions like this," she gestured to Arcanine.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ash broke in. "I thought Vermilion was supposed to be a prosperous port? Why is the Pokemon Center a homeless shelter and why are you so under-equipped?"

A spark of fire flashed through Joy's eyes and the muscles in her neck tightened. She took a moment to respond. "It's all the-" She clenched her fists and shut her eyes, going silent for a moment and taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," Joy said a few seconds later, her tone calmer. "It's late... maybe we can talk over a cup of tea?"

SC

Filling his lungs with the aroma of the spiced drink, Ash took a deep breath as he held the steaming cup before his face. Something in the tingling scent did a great deal to calm his nerves, though looking through the glass observation window at Arcanine still tore at his chest. Nevertheless, there was something comforting about the normalcy of sitting at a table with other people, drinking a flavorful brew. The waiting room, small as it seemed, had the relief of comfortable if plain trappings. Obviously Joy had not gotten around to pawning off the items this deep in the Center... that or there was no one left to buy them.

"So," Joy began after finishing off her cup and setting aside the cup. "If you have questions, I can try to answer them now."

Misty nodded, watching the nurse carefully, making a note of the dark circles beneath her eyes. "We won't eat up too much time," said the trainer. "But really, what's happening in Vermilion?"

"That is the big question, isn't it?" said Joy. She set the cup on a coaster and folded her hands in her lap. "To shorten a long story, for as long as I could remember, Vermilion _was_ a rich port. We traded with Fuchsia, Cinnabar, Pallet, Viridian, and even several cities in Johto. Vermilion for a long time was richer than Saffron or Celadon, even if we were a lot smaller, but that all started to change a year or so ago. All of a sudden Fuchsia and Saffron stopped trading with us, the food shortage in the west started to strangle Viridian's economy, and political turmoil in Johto cut off those lines of trade. More recently, Pallet was destroyed which cut off most of the natural gas we imported to help keep our industry running."

Ash nodded and folded his arms in front of his chest. "But that still leaves trade with Cinnabar. And Vermilion has natural resources it can exploit, doesn't it?"

Joy nodded. "Yes, and that would be enough for us to get by, if not for the Gym."

Ash and Misty both spoke up in unison. "The Gym?" they asked.

Shifting in her chair and crossing her legs, Joy leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "Six months ago, just about the time that the food crisis in Viridian became a problem for trade, the Gym Leader here packed up and left town without giving any warning. One day he was just gone, and a new leader from out of town arrived to take his place."

"That's a little unusual," said Ash. "Indigo Plateau appoints most Gym Leaders unless a city decides to elect their own."

"Right," said Joy. "And when Lieutenant Surge came to town, promising that he'd be the one to change everything for the better and get people who were losing their livelihoods back on their feet, who wouldn't want him appointed? The only problem was that there was no opposition. Surge's lackeys made a point to intimidate anyone who publicly spoke out against him, and before we knew it, Surge was officially the new Gym Leader. That's when things started going from bad to worse.

"Surge imposed all kinds of new taxes and tariffs that sucked all the life out of shipping and trade along what few routes we had left. When the town started to complain, Surge started imposing regulations on our home-industries and working even harder to drain all the money out of the city, and of course there was nothing we could really do about it. Politically he was safe because he'd bought the mayor and shipped him off to Celadon. And here we are," Joy leaned back and held out her arms. "More people are losing work every day, and our industry is dieing."

Sitting in silence, Ash and Misty both looked at each other. Ash couldn't miss the look in Misty's eyes, the subdued anger which he sensed was connected with some aspect of the city's situation which Misty understood and Ash did not. Misty looked over at Joy.

"We're really sorry to hear all that," said Misty. "Do you think there's anything we can do to help out?"

Ash shot a sidelong glance at his partner. Was she being polite, he wondered.

Joy shook her head. "Not unless you feel like running Surge and all of his goons out of town," she said casually.

The room slipped into silence for a long minute. Nobody made any eye contact with anyone else and only Pikachu, sitting in the corner and obliviously licking himself clean, seemed to miss out on the awkward pause. It was Ash who spoke first after finishing off his spiced tea and setting the cup out of the way.

"Do you think you could put us up for the rest of the night?" he asked. "I know you don't have much room, but we'd settle for a clear bit of floor."

Joy nodded. "I could probably do that," she said. "In fact, if you wanted to sleep here in the waiting room I'd be fine with it. I should go and wake my sister anyway, so she can take the next shift at the desk."

"Thanks," said Misty. "We owe you one."

Standing up and giving the room a once-over, Joy pointed to the door. "The bathroom is down the hall that way. The water won't be hot, but it's clean. The light switch is by the door," she pointed out. "Don't worry about leaving it on too long, and I guess I'll see both of you in the morning."

Ash got up and glanced over at Arcanine, laying unconscious on the operating table as Joy walked for the door. "Hey," he called after her. "Thanks," Ash said when she stopped and turned around in the doorway, "for helping us so much."

Joy smiled warmly. "That's what I do," she said. "Now you two should get some sleep."

Ash nodded. "Still," he said. "We appreciate it."

The door closing behind her, Joy disappeared into the hall and Ash turned around to Misty. His partner had already begun rummaging through her pack and pulling out some rudimentary supplies. Ash sighed and sat, unzipping his pack and reaching inside.

"Well," said Misty, tearing open the plastic wrapping around a seed cake and moving from the chair to the floor, leaning her back against the wall. "I guess we've gotten ourselves into another mess here."

"No kidding," Ash answered. He sat quietly for a moment, nibbling on the half of the cake that Misty handed him. "You think we're the only ones?" he asked.

Misty wiped the back of her hand across her lips. "What do you mean?" she asked. "The only ones?"

"Who wind up in all of these crazy positions," Ash explained. "Do you think there are other people who travel through the wilds, having huge misadventures or is it just us?"

"I don't really know," Misty shrugged. "Guess I never thought about it. I'm sure we're not the only ones though. We can't be."

"Anyway," Ash transitioned, reaching down to pet Pikachu when the little rodent meandered over to the trainers. "What do you think we should do?"

"About?"

"What's going on here. About this Surge guy."

"Depends on what you want to do," said the girl. "We came here to get Arcanine to a Pokemon Center, but we also need to get the Gym Leader's recommendation for the Elite Four. If you're still up for it I think we should rest up and head to the Gym as soon as we can. If we hang around too long without making a move, Surge might catch wind that there are real trainers in town... that could only be bad for us."

"I was thinking the same thing," said Ash. "Maybe tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?" Misty looked over at him. "Ash, tomorrow is a little soon, don't you think? I mean we can only recover so much strength in one night."

"I know," said Ash. "But we should have the element of surprise," he went on, a small grin crossing his face. "Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm sick of being on the receiving end of all this punishment. I think it's about time we went on the offensive and hit the bad guys where they live before they can even see us coming. If that means sacrificing a little sleep, then I think it's worth it."

Misty sighed. "Alright," she said. "If we're up for it we'll see about taking on Surge tomorrow. I just hope you're not being too ambitious."

"Don't worry about it," said Ash, suppressing the little smile again. "I think it'll turn out just fine."

Misty nodded and both trainers set about getting ready to turn in. While Misty had a cold shower, Ash took advantage of the decrepit washing machine in the Center's utility room. Then, while Ash endured the shower's lack of hot water, Misty and Pikachu set about hanging up the trainers' gear to dry. Aside from changing some bandages, repacking some equipment, and cleaning themselves up, Ash and Misty did next to nothing before both were ready to turn in.

"You ready?" Ash asked, standing next to the light switch of the waiting room.

"Go for it," Misty answered.

Ash took another look at Arcanine, still laying like a statue on the operating table. Only the canine's steady breathing betrayed that he was still alive at all. Ash sighed, feeling his chest tighten and ache, then looked over at Misty, laying on the pile of sleeping bags and cushions she'd stolen from a nearby sofa. Flicking the switch, Ash plunged the room into near total darkness, and carefully picked his way through the unfamiliar room to the makeshift bed, and sat down next to Misty. The girls nearness brought him more peace, even if worry for Arcanine ate at him. He remained seated in the dark, thinking about, for what reason he wasn't sure, Pallet Town, and remembering faces he knew he wouldn't ever see again.

"Don't worry," said Misty soothingly as she sat up and rubbed his back. "Arcanine is tough. He'll be fine. Just wait and see."

"I hope so," said Ash. "I'm just... this has already been a long trip we're on, and god only knows how much farther we have to go."

Misty smiled in the dark and snuggled up to Ash. Both trainers bedded down on the cushions and shifted into comfortable positions. "We'll know when we get to the end," said Misty, cuddling into Ash. "I'm willing to bet it will be a happy ending."

"I hope so," said Ash, turning to Misty and putting an arm around her.

They drifted into silence, both trainers feeling the fatigue wash over them as the stress of the day began to dissipate into exhaustion. Whereas Misty quickly fell asleep however, Ash fought to stay awake longer, waiting until he was sure that Misty's rhythmic breathing breathing meant she was completely out.

_Hey,_ he called out mentally, reaching out to the cold presence that lingered outside the room. Ash grinned when he felt Haunter's response as the ghost silently and invisibly poked its head through the wall. _I've got an assignment for you,_ Ash thought. _Think you're good for it?_

Haunter nodded and bobbed up and down excitedly. Immediately the ghost conveyed to Ash that it was ready for some action, hungry for it even. The trainer couldn't miss the cold thoughts coming across the empathetic link he shared with the ghost, and he quickly explained his designs to the spirit. After another giddy acknowledgment, Haunter disappeared through the wall again and stalked down the Pokemon Center's main corridor.

Ash sighed and buried his face in Misty's hair as he felt his link with Haunter fade into the distance. He shivered once, putting out of his mind how quickly the ghost's personality seemed to oscillate between benign altruism, and a downright malicious disposition, and focused instead on the warm body held against him. If Haunter, he thought, was willing and able to operate covertly, Ash was at least going to make use of it.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Keeping to the Plan

It was dark, and it smelled like rotting garbage. Few of the buildings were well lit, and even fewer streetlights shone in the darkness, leaving the numerous alleys in Vermilion City dark and menacing. From most of the alleys Haunter could hear the sounds of barking dogs or the whisperings of the homeless. Of course none of this bothered the ghost as it floated invisibly down the sidewalk, observing its surroundings with the utmost interest. To Haunter the whole situation seemed a great adventure, a break from the monotony Lavender had presented.

More than once Haunter had stopped to investigate some noise from an alley or a flash of light from a high window. It had come across several fascinating scenes, some heartwarming displays of kindness, such as when a woman living out of an abandoned dumpster took two hungry children into her care and split her already meager spoils with them. Other scenes were nothing short of lurid, such as when the ghost happened across three men beating a woman senseless and dragging her behind an apartment building. In the latter case Haunter decided to intervene. Sickened by the display, Haunter revealed itself as a shrieking, laughing monstrosity that chased the men from the alley, and hid their unconscious victim behind a pile of boxes where she could recover.

Haunter's exploration of the city remained guided by a purpose however. Ash had instructed the ghost to seek out the Vermilion Gym and investigate the facility as thoroughly as possible, learning numbers, strength, and reporting back to Ash the next morning. The trainer specifically forbade Haunter from killing anyone, "we're not assassins," he had said, and Haunter agreed to the order. However, the ghost reasoned, Ash had said nothing about pranks, and how would the trainer know if Haunter's fun softened up the gym for the day's attack?

Vermilion Gym, a well-maintained and brightly lit structure setting on the edge of the bay, proved simple enough for Haunter to find, and as the clock tower in the distance sounded 4am, the ghost floated silently inside.

SC

"Is he going to be ready to fight?" Ash asked, standing behind Joy. The young trainer crossed his arms, watching the procedure.

Joy nervously lifted Charmeleon's bandages and cut away the stained cloth, watching as the Pokemon eyed her and growled. The corner of Charmeleon's muzzle tugged up, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth as Joy carefully inspected Pokemon's wounded flank. She took a moment to inspect the wound from various angles, making sure not to touch it directly, before taking a step away.

"I've never seen a Pokemon heal this quickly," she turned to Ash and wiped her hands down the front of her scrubs. "The smaller scratches and cuts have already closed up completely and the deeper wound on his leg is well over half sealed." She glanced over her shoulder at the irritated little dragon, glad that Ash's steely gaze had been restraint enough for the Pokemon's volatile attitude. "I can't say if he's ready for a fight though. Strenuous activity wouldn't be good for the wounds. You'd be risking reopening them."

Ash sighed and dropped his hands into his pockets. The early afternoon sunshine flooding into the room through the skylight and the big windows on the eastern and western walls washed over Charmeleon and glinted off his bloody scales in a threatening display of red and orange light. Pikachu, sitting on Ash's shoulder and watching Charmeleon like one predator sizes up another, chittered uncomfortably. Ash and Pikachu both could feel the fiery Pokemon's building aggression and neither wanted to be around if it boiled over.

"Charmeleon are born and bred to fight," said Ash, as much to Charmeleon as to Joy. "And this one is a prime example of the species. He might feel left out if I didn't unleash him on Surge today. Plus, with what you've said about Surge using mostly electric-types, Misty will be out of the picture and I'll need all the firepower I can get."

A deep rumbling sounded in Charmeleon's throat and the Pokemon's tail swept through the air and slapped down on the table on which it lay. The resulting bang made Joy jump and take shelter behind Ash. The trainer however nodded and met Charmeleon's burning gaze with his own icy one. A puff of smoke hissed out from between the Pokemon's jaws and rose to linger about the skylight.

"You'll get your chance," said Ash calmly, reaching up to pet Pikachu as the rodent's cheeks sparked.. "Save all that aggression for the Gym, both of you."

Joy broke in by clearing her throat. "So you'll be going to the gym as soon as your partner gets back then?"

Ash nodded. "Misty wanted to go have a look around town, get a feel for the place. We're losing daylight and I want to confront this Surge guy before he gets wind we're here."

"I don't mean to pry," said Joy, "but what exactly do you plan on doing when you get there?"

Ash shrugged, stepping up next to Charmeleon and inspecting the tear in his leg. The trainer focused on the wound, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if he was actually seeing the tissue knit shut while he watched. It was subtle, but Ash thought that maybe Charmeleon was regenerating quickly enough for Ash to watch the process. "I'm not totally sure," said the trainer. "As far as I know, no one has ever gone around from city to city, challenging the gym leaders one by one to win their support for a suicide mission. I'm still trying to get the hang of the process."

"Right," Joy nodded, reviewing in her head what little of their plan Ash and Misty had revealed to her. "It's unorthodox, I'll give you that." She paused and bit her lip. "I don't want to keep pressing the issue," the nurse went on, "but do you think that, if you can I mean, that you could try to get Surge to leave town? I don't know what would happen after that, but it couldn't be any worse for Vermilion than Surge is right now."

Ash pulled a pokeball from his belt, and returned Charmeleon to the glowing little orb. "I'll challenge him for his recommendation and the gym badge," said Ash. "And we'll see where it goes from there. You've got to remember," he said, turning to Joy with an innocent grin as he reached up and put his hand behind his head, "I'm in pretty unfamiliar territory here. Politics have never been my thing."

"Right, right," Joy nodded with a sigh. "Anyway," she said, "I'm going to go check on your Arcanine. You want to come with me?"

Ash paused. He looked over to the window on the eastern wall, feeling a familiar and cold presence hovering just outside the glass. "Thanks," said Ash, looking back at Joy. "I'm going to go for a walk though. I'll trust you to take care of him."

She patted Ash on the arm and turned to the door. "I understand," she said. "Don't worry about him. Your Pokemon's in good hands."

"Thanks," said Ash, waiting until Joy had left the room to look back at the window. "Hey Pikachu," he said, leaning down and setting the little Pokemon on the floor. "Gimme a second," he stood up and walked across the room to the bathroom door. Pikachu cocked its head at its trainer, then curled up on the floor and set about licking itself clean.

Ash shut the door behind him, nodded, and seemingly out of nothing, Haunter's purple shape took form, floating silently towards Ash with a toothy grin splitting its face from one side to the other. "Glad you're back," said Ash. "What did you learn?"

Haunter's grin widened and it reached out with one disembodied hand for Ash, moving to touch him on the forehead with its talon-like index finger. Ash braced himself, wondering if Haunter was again the mischievous ghost he'd met in Lavender. As Haunter's luminescent purple form brushed over Ash's temple, the trainer's eyes snapped shut and his frame went rigid as he slumped against the wall. The ghost moved quickly and caught him before he fell, propping Ash up for a moment until the trainer's eyes opened.

For the better part of a minute, Ash was silent, processing the memories Haunter had imparted to him. "That's all well and good," said the trainer, looking up at Haunter as the ghost's smile shifted from playful to awkward, "but I explicitly told you not to hurt anyone."

Haunter held up its hands and took a floating step away, sending across the empathetic link, the notion that the ghost's fun hadn't hurt anyone, physically. Nightmares and bloodcurdling screams don't cause any physical harm after all. Ash shook his head and took a deep breath. He pressed the ghost for details and clarifications, minutes rolling by as Haunter expounded on its report of the Vermilion Gym's numbers and layout. Up until the end, Ash listened calmly, nodding occasionally or asking the ghost to explain a certain image in more depth. The young trainer couldn't help but feel it was almost unfair that such a perfect spy had fallen in his lap.

_It wouldn't be wise,_ he thought, _to count on Haunter to be my trump card all the time, but still..._

Haunter reached the scenes in the memories of his slow and methodical investigation where he had found the center of the gym itself, the inner sanctum as it were. In what appeared to be an ostentatious building full of neon displays and electric lights, Tesla Coils and other glowing novelties, the door at which Haunter had stopped seemed uncharacteristically plain, hidden away almost. Much to Ash's surprise, the ghost had stopped short of checking the room where it most expected to encounter Surge. There had been another presence beyond the heavy steel portal, one the ghost recognized as a powerful psychic.

Its senses clouded, Haunter had debated whether or not to peek inside for a look around, but when it had tested the wall the ghost quickly found that the psychic presence extended beyond the bounds of the room and formed a wall of force within the concrete wall, beyond which Haunter could not move. As soon as the ghost prodded the psychic shield the presence grew irritated and undulated within the room. Haunter abandoned the investigation and returned to Ash immediately.

The trainer raised one eyebrow and looked at the ghost. "A Psychic that could keep you out?" he asked. "I thought ghosts were any psychics nightmare..."

Haunter nodded erratically, making no additional response to the statement.

Ash sighed and rolled his neck around, sitting on the closed toilet and resting his elbows on his knees. "So what are our options...?" he muttered, beginning to take a mental tally of what he and Haunter knew. "The Gym has Surge, five part-time trainers, two real trainers loyal to him, and a psychic... I've got Pikachu, Charmeleon, and you," he looked up at Haunter, unsure of the ghost's mischievous grin. "Misty has Blastoise, Staryu, Starmie, and three empty pokeballs. The odds don't seem too great."

Again, Haunter nodded and bobbed up and down. Ash didn't miss the note of enthusiasm. "Right," sighed the trainer. "At least you and Charmeleon are up for a challenge." He pushed himself up and put his hand on the door. "Stay out of sight, will you," he asked nonchalantly over his shoulder. "We'll wait until Misty gets back from casing the gym and see what our next move should be."

SC

Misty turned her head and spat her chewing gum onto the flat, sun-baked roof of the small duplex. From the street she had spotted the vantage point, and getting through the dilapidated chain link fence surrounding the premises proved no problem. Scaling the fire-escape in broad daylight had drawn next to no attention from the people in the street. Now, at just after one in the afternoon, Misty sat concealed beside a small air conditioning unit as she watched the Vermilion Gym through a pair of cheap binoculars. Her one gripe was the heat. Vermilion's coastal locale meant the temperature rarely dropped below eighty during the day, and up here on the roof with no shade and no cross breeze to speak of, Misty had been sweating profusely for an hour.

Finishing off her second bottle of water, Misty tossed the empty container aside and wiped the moisture from her forehead. "Damn..." she muttered, glancing up at the sky, grimacing at the lack of hope for cloud cover. "Oh well," she returned to watching the gym for activity. "If this gets me a look at this Surge guy..." The name rung in the back of Misty's head like a church bell, prompting her to wonder where exactly she had heard of the man.

Less than a stone's throw away, just across the wide street as a matter of fact, the Gym sat like a fortress in the center of the slowly decaying port town. The complex consisted of three squat buildings, only one of which Misty thought large enough to be the actual Gym, ringed by a wall higher than any of the buildings it protected. A chain link gate protected the only opening in the wall, and wires ran atop the wall. Misty could hear the hum of electricity emanating from the wires and the gate from her spot on the roof, and she wondered silently to herself how exactly she and Ash were to gain entrance to the complex when the time came. Ringing the doorbell struck Misty as unwise.

"Huh," the girl's gaze snapped to the front door of the large building. Misty lowered the binoculars and scanned a broad swath of the courtyard for context, then refocused her attention through the binoculars as the big, garishly painted door swung open.

The first to exit were two tall figures garbed in flowing robes the color of faded lavender. They obscured their faces under hoods which cast shadows that seemed too dark for the time of day. Next to exit, as the first two characters stood motionlessly beside the door, were two more people, both of whom wore pokeballs at their belts and paramilitary uniforms, stepped into the sunlight and stood at ease beside the other silent figures. Misty's eyes focused on the fifth figure however, to the exclusion of all else, as the young woman in purple and black exited the building.

A chill shot down Misty's spine as she looked down at the courtyard. The woman walked with an ethereal grace accentuated by her alabaster complexion. The deep purple suit and her long atramental hair only made the woman's pale features more ghostly, even in the overpowering sunlight, but what made Misty stare, was her mark's cold gaze. Through the binoculars, Misty could make out the woman's eyes, one iris the color of amethyst, while the other sparkled wine red, and for a moment the new arrival's glance lighted across the rooftop, freezing Misty in place as though she'd suddenly been clapped in chains. The feeling passed as soon as the woman turned to the men waiting in the courtyard and spoke, too quietly for the observing trainer to hear.

Trying to quietly catch her breath, Misty paid less attention as the woman pulled a pokeball from her black belt. In a flash of white light, a humanoid creature the color of an egg's yolk, sporting white fur, angled facial features, and a strange silver utensil in each hand appeared beside its trainer, looking around absentmindedly. It could have been that Misty was too unsettled from... whatever it was the trainer's passing glance had done to her, but as soon as the girl refocused on observing the scene before her, there was no one to observe.

Misty bolted forward and rubbed her eyes before hurriedly scanning the courtyard for any signs of movement. To her immediate chagrin Misty realized there were no people on whom she could spy. The courtyard was empty. Thinking to check her watch only confused her farther as it was less than a minute after she'd last looked.

"The hell?" she muttered. "That's a new trick."

Quickly packing her small cache of supplies, Misty descended from the roof and picked her way through the town, keeping her hand at her belt at all times on her way back to the Pokemon Center. Thinking as she walked, the girl decided that he most likely scenario involved the Pokemon she'd seen in the courtyard turning the people around it invisible, or less likely she thought, teleporting them a short distance away. Misty had heard that some Pokemon had the ability to travel from one place to another by flashing in and out of space, but she'd never seen it first hand. Finding Ash at the Center, Misty set about telling the young trainer what she'd seen. It surprised her when his spirits lifted at the news.

"That's five more people we don't have to deal with," Ash said when Misty asked why he was smiling. "It sounds like the Gym is pretty inactive in the first place, and with those five gone the odds might just be even."

"You think we should head out now?" Misty asked, crossing her arms and looking about the foyer of the Pokemon Center.

"If we're going to take advantage of the Gym's weakened numbers, then yes," he said, patting the pokeballs on his belt. "You ready?"

"I don't know for sure," said Misty, going over in her head all of the places where she might have heard of Lt. Surge, but coming up short. "I know we need to get the Gym's recommendation for the Elite Four, and it would be a bonus to drive him out of Vermilion, but are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we could call Brock for help."

Ash shook his head. "If we had more time I'd agree," he said. "But Brock is probably halfway to Cerulean by now, and he has things he needs to do too..." He smiled at Misty and reached out to touch her arm. "Besides, I think we can handle ourselves here. Trust me," he grinned.

Misty sighed. "You sure don't lack confidence."

"Nope," said Ash. "Fortune favors the bold. C'mon."

SC

In a white flash of light, Onyx disappeared into its pokeball. Brock tucked the orb between his cloak and his body armor, stopping to look out across the long grassy clearing in the seemingly endless sea of forest. Spotting the checkpoint, he began walking and quickly closed the distance between himself and unassuming buildings. Upon parting with Ash and Misty, Brock had decided almost immediately to return to where he'd met Fey and her mercenaries with an offer. He refused to actually hope that they would accompany him to Pewter and take up a post there to aid him in keeping the city free of Team Rocket's influence, but secretly he caught himself desiring just that.

The evening light cast long shadows across the clearing as the sun began to dip behind the treeline, and Brock took a breath of the crisp air. He knew that only a few miles to the west lay Saffron City, likely still roiling in turmoil, but here at the checkpoint he thought he might receive a sanguine welcome.

Approaching the arch between the building however, wary of a potential warning shot from a crossbow, Brock hesitated. Instinct warned him not to proceed, and scanning the arch and the tops of the checkpoint's buildings gave him additional pause. No one sat ready to meet intruders. Brock spied no mercenaries nor anyone at all. As far as he could tell, the checkpoint sat abandoned. He briefly considered announcing his presence, but instinct again warned him to remain silent.

Quietly taking a breath and checking the sun to determine how much daylight remained, Brock reached down to his shin and drew out his boot knife. With his other hand he unclipped Golem's pokeball from his belt. Slowly he approached the northern building and took a steadying breath. Scanning the windows as he neared confirmed Brock's fears. Glass had shattered inward from several of the panes and the heavy door set in the eastern wall lay many yards away from its broken jam. Brock quickly pressed his back to the exterior wall and peered inside. The waning sunlight revealed the parlor, strewn with broken glass and a trio of dead human bodies, a shredded Scyther's corpse, and several smaller Pokemon's bodies.

The Gym Leader weighed his options as he waited outside the building. "Shit," he muttered under his breath, afterward pressing his lips together and deciding not to speak. Inside he would be alone as Onyx and Golem were too large to maneuver. Simply leaving struck him as the best option, though inside there might be survivors. Brock shook his head. Deciding that his altruism would one day be his undoing, he held his long knife close and stepped inside.

Avoiding the crunching broken glass, Brock investigated the dead men. Each wore the emblem of Fey's mercenary company and the Gym Leader judged by their wounds that it was their blood that had spattered the walls of the parlor. Picking up one man's crossbow and loading one of the broadhead-tipped bolts, Brock sheathed his knife and turned towards the stairs. Step by step, until his eyes were level with the second story hallway, Brock peered down the dark corridor. Illuminated only by the sunlight streaming though smashed in doors on the hall's west side, the whole scene left Brock uneasy.

He counted two more human bodies, he thought, though the cadavers were in so many places at once he couldn't rightly tell exactly how many peoples' remains lay in the hall. Brock quickly remembered Lavender Town, deciding that all of the unpleasant sights there didn't match the flagrant slaughter here, and he wondered what kind of animal had instructed its Pokemon to commit such an act. Picking his way amongst the mess and trying not to focus on the gore-splashed walls and ceiling, Brock searched the rooms, one by one. He discovered what he thought to be enough bodies in the first several rooms to account for most of the mercenaries. From some of the more intact corpses, he quietly lifted purses or other small resources and slipped them around to his pack. Coming to the last room, Brock stole a glance inside, and bit the inside of his cheek. Walking quickly to the far wall and setting down his crossbow he knelt by the figure leaning into the crushed drywall.

"Fey," he hissed, gingerly cradling the woman and glancing across the room at the dead Ninetails laying there. "Fey," he repeated a little louder when she didn't answer. The mercenary captain remained silent and Brock sighed. "Shit," he muttered, gently letting the body down on the floor when he saw the woman had been nearly broken in half by some enormous impact. Two huge puncture wounds, one clean through her neck and the other in her temple had left her dead with her eyes half open. Clenched in one of her hands was a thin spike of a knife, colored dark red with dried blood. In the other fist her death grip had torn away some of her killer's hide: purple snakeskin.

_They were ambushed and couldn't use their larger Pokemon or their weapons effectively inside,_ Brock thought as he took the comforter from the bed, closed Fey's eyes, and covered her body. He stood up, holding his breath as he heard glass breaking downstairs, and quickly stepped out into the hallway. Avoiding the remains of the fallen and moving like a ghost to the stairs, Brock shouldered the crossbow and waited, hearing voices on the floor below.

"Fucking hell," one voice floated up the stairs as some equipment clattered. "Those agents sure did a number on these guys. Poor slobs never stood a chance."

"That's Jesse," said another voice. This one Brock thought sounded feminine. "I knew her back in the day. Girl has always been crazy. She'd sooner kill you with her nails than turn that rabid Arbok of hers loose and let it turn you to chili... though both ways end about the same."

Stiffening as the voices neared the stairs, the stillness ringing in his ears, Brock took a slow breath and decided on his course of action. Waiting in silence as the boots stepped up the first few steps to the landing, the Gym Leader lurched forward as a head came into view. Brock's heavy boot slammed into the man's temple with a squish and a splitting crack as the Gym Leader pivoted and took aim with his crossbow. As the man fell like a cloth doll and the woman screamed, Brock flicked the trigger. The crossbow lurched as the bolt tore forward and pierced the woman's wrist, pinning her arm to the wall against which she'd stumbled.

In an instant Brock stood with his face an inch from hers. He held her good hand in his iron grip and pressed his knife to her cheek, drawing blood. "Move and you fucking die," Brock growled, making no effort to hold back the bile in his tone as he saw the shiny red 'R' she wore as a hair clip. "Are you Team Rocket?"

The woman whimpered and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Don't kill me," she hiccuped. "I'll do whatever you want..." her eyes flitted across her dead partner as blood flowed out of the split in his skull and stained the stairs. "Oh god..." she nearly gagged.

"Then answer my question," Brock barked. "Are you Team Rocket?"

She nodded as completely as she could without further cutting her face on Brock's knife. "Y-y-y-yes," she answered. "You're hurting me..." she cried.

"You picked the wrong employers if you want my sympathy. Why were you sent here?"

"I had orders to clean up after two of our agents," said the Rocket Grunt, a lock of blonde hair falling into her face.

"Jesse and James?" Brock probed, tightening his grip until her good wrist popped.

As her eyes widened with both pain and surprise, the girl broke and began sobbing, dropping until only the bolt and Brock's grip held her against the wall. "Don't kill me," she gasped as her eyes and nose both ran. "I'll tell you anything, just don't kill me, please, please just let me live."

Brock felt his chest tighten and he looked away. Swiping down with the knife's small pommel he snapped off the back of the crossbow bolt, making the girl scream from the jolt of pain. Taking her arm and her hand he jerked her wrist free and squeezed higher up her arm to stifle the blood loss as she cried and collapsed to her knees, pleading for her life.

"You're going to answer every last one of my questions," Brock made his position clear, bandaging and tying off the wound as roughly as he could without causing further harm. "Clear?" He could tell by the glassy look in her red eyes that his prisoner had broken.

For the next half hour, the Rocket Grunt hemorrhaged information at a pace that made the Gym Leader's head spin. He gathered that Jesse and James had indeed been sent here to intercept Ash Ketchum, and capture him. The agents had then opted to kill the mercenaries for their part in sheltering Ash and his companions. Brock learned that the Vermilion Gym was indeed linked with Team Rocket, as were the Fuchsia and Saffron Gyms, and that Sabrina of Saffron, who held a position of great power within the shadowy organization, was expected to retake her city any day now with the help of Rocket reinforcements from Vermilion.

"And why does Team Rocket want to capture Ash Ketchum?" Brock pressed. "Why's he so special?"

The Grunt shook her head. "I don't know," her voice broke. "I don't think Jesse or James know either. The orders come down from the top... probably has something to do with Professor Oak. What else do you want to know?"

Brock hesitated. He'd moved his prisoner downstairs, bound her hands, and set her on the couch. "Those knots shouldn't take you more than an hour to work loose," he said. "Your wrist isn't bleeding anymore and your pokeball is on the table..." he leveled against her the iciest glare he could muster and watched as she went absolutely pale. "Team Rocket has dangerous enemies. Remember that."

The Gym Leader turned and walked for the door, not turning to look back at the stunned Rocket Grunt.

"If you want to be free of them," he shouted as he left the building, "head to Pewter!"

SC

"So this is it," Ash said to himself, looking through the electrified gate and into Vermillion Gym's open courtyard. The whitewashed buildings, decorated with buzzing neon and glinting lights presented an impressive facade, prompting Ash to take a moment to look on in simple fascination. "I've got to give this Surge guy credit, he has a flare for the dramatic," acknowledged Ash, holding his arm out to one side, allowing Pikachu to walk down his sleeve and sniff at the gate.

"You sure about this?" asked Misty.

Ash nodded as Pikachu's fur began to stand on end. The little yellow Pokemon jumped out and latched onto the gate, chittering and squeaking as a single bolt of electricity arced between its cheeks for a split second. Ash reached out and put his hand on the gate, flinching reflexively when nothing happened, and reaching through the chain-link to undo the locking mechanism on the other side. With a grunt the trainer shoved and the gate rolled on silent wheels to one side, allowing Ash and Misty unobstructed access.

"See?" Ash grinned as Pikachu leapt back to his shoulder and shook like a wet dog drying itself. A shower of little sparks flew in every direction and Pikachu's fur poofed out. "Grandpa taught me that one."

Misty took one look at Pikachu, who had turned around on itself to try and lick its fur back into place, and couldn't contain a laugh. Pikachu looked over at Misty, tongue sticking halfway out its mouth, and narrowed its gaze at her. The girl held back another laugh, but continued to snicker as Ash led the way to the front door of the largest building.

The young trainer took a steadying breath, already missing Arcanine's reassuring presence, and pulled on the copper doorknob. Feeling a stinging energy pulse through his hand, Ash pulled harder and held the door ajar for Misty.

Misty shook her head as she walked by. "Such a gentleman," she joked as Ash followed her inside and shut the door behind them. "Any idea where we go from here?"

Ash stepped up beside her and took a look around. The main chamber of the gym hummed with the activity of several tall Tesla Towers standing at even intervals throughout the warehouse floor. Lightning arched overhead between the towers with booms and hissing cracks of air. Between the towers, at ground level, walls of cobalt energy crackled and forms opaque barriers leaving Ash and Misty confined to the main room of the gym. All of the several side halls and a larger hall directly opposite the trainers remained cut off by the glowing barriers.

"Looks like a security system," said Misty, eying the towers. "And I'm not about to mess with it."

"Doesn't seem very practical," said Ash. "Effective though." He reached out with a thought and grabbed Haunter's attention, asking why the ghost had left this out of its report. Haunter's confusion echoed across the pair's link as clearly as Ash's. Floating invisibly beside its living partner, the ghost could only guess these had come online after Haunter had left.

"Pikachu," said Ash, looking down at his companion. "Think you can overload one?"

The rodent looked at Ash and cocked its head to one side, unsure of whether or not to take its trainer seriously. Ash shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well hell," he said, walking up to one of the crackling blue walls of energy. Both Ash and Misty turned around as a crack sounded behind Ash and one of the blue walls sectioning off a small hallway vanished long enough for three men to pass into the main chamber.

Ash reached down to his belt, just as one of the new arrivals looked up and met his gaze, and threw a pokeball to the ground. In a white flash of light, Charmeleon's red form leapt into being beside Ash.

"Holy shit!" the man across the room shouted in surprise as Charmeleon sprang forward with a hissing roar, closing the thirty feet between itself and the three men in an instant.

"Stop!" Ash barked, prompting Charmeleon to stop mere feet away from its targets, claws skidding along the ground and leaving thin troughs in the concrete floor. "Charmeleon, stay there!"

"What the hell is going on?" one of the men shouted, putting his hands up as his two companions did the same. Despite the pokeballs at their belts, Ash quickly noted that the men were far from experienced trainers... probably some of the conscripts Haunter had mentioned. "Who are you!"

Ash walked up beside his snarling Charmeleon, making a point not to touch the Pokemon. Pikachu's cheeks crackled with flickers of lightning as Misty casually approached and stood beside Ash. "I'm here to see the Gym Leader," Ash said calmly and politely. "How about you help me out and tell me where I can find Lieutenant Surge?"

The man at the head of the three frightened trainers glanced at Charmeleon. The Pokemon's jaws opened and black smoke boiled out from between its teeth. "Hey, easy," said the trainer. He and his associates shook in their boots. "We don't work for Surge, not really. If you've got a beef with him you can leave us out of it."

"Just call off your Pokemon," one of the other men squeaked.

"I'll be happy to when you tell me where I can find Surge," said Ash.

"Over there," said the first trainer, reaching up to his yellow hardhat and adjusting it, nodding off towards the opposite side of the warehouse. "He's got a big room down that hall and tucked away in the back. There's an arena where he trains his Pokemon and everything. Hey," he added with a nervous grin. "You obviously know what you're doing. Why not let us go an we'll promise not to get in your way."

The other man piped up again, "We're not wort your time, really. We'll stay out of your way and everything."

"How do we get passed the barriers?" Misty asked.

The man in the hardhat pointed at his pocket. "I've got a keycard here that can get you access to any of the rooms in the building. It will also deactivate the towers. I'm going for it slow, okay, so keep your Pokemon under control please."

Ash nodded, watching carefully as the man slipped his hand into his pocket. "Easy," said the trainer as the man in the hardhat began to pull an item from his overall's pocket. "Don't make any quick moves."

"Here," said the man, producing a small black card with a golden magnetic strip. He held it out for Ash. "All yours. Can we go now?"

Ash silently took the card and handed it to Misty. "Mind investigating?" he asked without taking his eyes off the other trainers.

Misty nodded. "Of course," she answered, taking the card and crossing the room. Nervously investigating the tower for a minute, every watchful for a stray bolt of lightning, Misty found a small slot in a keypad at eye level. Inserting the card and removing it quickly prompted the girl to leap back in surprise as a crackling hiss sounded in the room. The tower hummed quietly and faded as the blue barrier disappeared, leaving the construction little more than an unassuming metal spire. "I think it worked!" Misty shouted back.

Ash smiled at the three men. "I think it's your lucky day," he said. "How about we all agree that none of us saw each other?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said the man in the hardhat. "And by the way, if you manage to beat Surge, don't feel bad if you kill him. No one around this town will miss him."

"We'll see," said Ash as he positioned himself between Charmeleon and the three men. The fiery lizard growled and hissed as it watched its potential prey speed across the open floor and exit through the door. Ash breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone, feeling Charmeleon's blood lust abate some. He patted Charmeleon on the head to get its attention, and nodded towards Misty and the hall. "Let's go," he said. "You'll get your shot."

Waiting patiently, Misty crossed her arms and offered the card to Ash as he neared. "Seeing as how I'm mostly backup anyway," she said, turning down the hall and walking beside Ash, opposite Charmeleon, "I figured you might want this."

"Sure," said the young trainer, taking the card and leading down the hall. Sending Haunter ahead with a thought, Ash followed behind the ghost with Charmeleon and Misty in tow. Both trainers fell silent as they trekked deeper into the surprisingly large facility, following the hall as it twisted and curved. The only sounds beside their own footsteps were the different pitched buzzings of the electric lights lining the walls.

Ash tracked by intuition Haunter's movement as the ghost took a sharp corner and disappeared through a metal door. "Hold on," said Ash, holding up a hand to stop the group as he peered at the door, waiting for Haunter to report on what waited on the other side. Ash instantly recognized this simple portal as the one from Haunter's visions of earlier that morning. "Do you hear that?" he asked to Misty as a faint crackling emanated from the doorway and echoed down the hall.

Misty nodded silently. "Sounds like... lightning?"

"Right," said Ash as Haunter touched his mind over the link. The ghost had found the inner sanctum, and the master of the gym. "Shall we?"

"Plan?" asked Misty.

"Walk in, get what we came for, walk out," said the young trainer with a confident grin. "We'll make up the rest as we go." Ash walked forward, Misty beside him, and put his hand on the knob. Opening the door flooded the hall with a brilliant combination of sunlight and artificial illumination that dazzled both trainers' senses.

SC

Small trees snapped out of the way as the massive stone serpent slithered through the underbrush without regard for subtlety. The boughs of larger tree limbs broke and tumbled in Onyx's wake while Brock, laying atop his Pokemon's skull, clung fast and tried to ignore the twigs and branches that tore at him and the crossbow slung across his back. Pushing south and southwest, searching in sweeping arcs through the morning, Brock made every effort to keep an eye on his surroundings, hoping that he could make it to Vermilion and flush out his quarry along the way as Onyx tracked the two Rocket Agents by the scent of a certain snake's hide. Banking on the hope that Jesse would keep Arbok out in the open had worked for Brock thus far. Onyx had picked up the Pokemon's trail and followed it like a hunting dog across the miles of forest.

_If those two are after Ash,_ thought Brock, _and they catch him in Vermilion when he's confronting Rocket's puppet Gym Leader then Ash won't stand a chance. He'll be up against impossible odds. Why did we separate? God that was stupid!_

Onyx's rumbling growl snapped Brock's attention to his Pokemon. The huge serpent had again caught wind of Arbok's scent, closer this time than ever before. At Brock's direction, Onyx reeled around and turned towards the edge of the thick forest. Charging forward like a battering ram, Brock broke through the edge of the forest and onto the top of the hill overlooking the coast on which Vermilion sat. To the Gym Leader's joint horror and relief, he spotted a small party of figures walking along another edge of the woods less than a hundred yards from his position, angling for a road that led straight into the city. Onyx rumbled and sniffed in that direction, eyes locked on the serpentine Pokemon slithering amongst.

"That's them," said the Gym Leader, spotting the white uniforms and tell-tale Pokemon. An Arbok slithered just beside the shorter of the two figures, while a Weezing hovered in midair some distance behind the party. "Let's get them," said Brock, patting the sides of his Pokemon's skull with his heels and taking a second pokeball in his free hand.

On that order, Onyx tore forward like a striking viper, closing on the Weezing and rearing up to strike before the other Pokemon could float around to see what was happening. Leaping down to the ground and throwing out the pokeball, Brock's steely gaze locked on the two trainers as they glanced around. Jesse gasped and James raised an eyebrow as Onyx came crashing down on his Weezing like an avalanche while Brock disappeared behind Golem as the second Pokemon appeared from a flash of white light.

The stone serpent smashed Weezing into the ground and reared back up to its full height, roaring and swiping its scythed tail about. The pulverized Pokemon hissed out a cloud of black smoke and went still as the reeking fumes dissipated. "Gotcha," Brock whispered, pointing forward as he took shelter behind Golem. "Onyx! Body slam them!"

Jesse and James took a single glance at one another and split off in different directions, each grabbing pokeballs from their belts while Onyx locked onto Arbok. The purple snake lashed to one side and dodged out of the way as Onyx attacked, avoiding the serpent by a comfortable margin. Brock meanwhile tried to keep Golem between himself and Jesse while watching James like a hawk.

"You think you can go after my friends," shouted Brock, "and not have to deal with me? Rocket's little game is over!"

Flashes of white light formed into a Venusaur beside James, and a Machamp beside Jesse. James jumped behind the green behemoth while Jesse stepped in front of her Pokemon as it cracked its knuckles. Arbok again dodged out of the way as Onyx swiped at it with a bladed tail.

"You're outnumbered," Jesse sneered, flipping her ruby hair behind her. "And you're outmaneuvered. You aren't going to keep us from getting what we want. We'll just kill you, take your Pokemon, and move on."

Moving like lightning, Brock pulled the loaded crossbow from behind his back and fired. The Machamp's hand shot in front of its trainer's face not a second too soon to block the bolt. Dark red blood splashed Jesse's face as the broadhead bolt tore through tendon and bone, its point stopping within an inch of the Machamp's eye.

Neither James nor Brock hesitated then. James ordered his Venusaur forward and Brock repositioned as Golem prepared to meet the charge head on. Reloading the crossbow for another shot at a very surprised Jesse, Brock flinched at Golem's cry of pain as the Venusaur's razor-like vines shot forward and burrowed into the chinks in Golem's heavy armor. Stepping around as Golem grabbed hold of the Venusaur and tried to lift the Pokemon into the air, Brock again aimed and fired. The heavy black bolt accelerated forward and again Machamp sacrificed for its trainer, grabbing Jesse with its three good hands and pivoting, taking the bolt for her full in the back.

"Shit," Brock swore, reaching around to the quiver hanging at his leg and finding it empty. _I must have lost ammunition on the trail..._ He threw the crossbow aside and drew out his long knife as Arbok slipped around Onyx and rushed at him.

SC

Finding themselves on the edge of a sandy arena, much like a vast boxing ring, Ash and Misty cast about to get their bearings. Standing in the center of the room were two figures, one obviously human, the other quite obviously not, but still man shaped. The two were grappling and throwing each other about with great heaves and cries of effort, until finally the man won out and threw the yellow and black Pokemon to the ground.

He turned away from the Pokemon then, towards the door where he saw Ash and Misty. His blond hair, blue eyes, and silver dog tags all glinted in the excessive light as the tall man with the lean, if freakishly muscular, physique put his hands on his hips.

"And who the hell are you?" he called out. "I don't recognize you and I don't remember inviting anyone to _my_ gym. And I don't take kindly to trespassers."

Ash stepped forward as the yellow Pokemon, one he recognized as an abnormally large Electabuzz, stood up and positioned itself between Ash and the Gym Leader. "Ash Ketchum," said the young trainer, already beginning to sweat under the heat from the florescent lights and the glass skylights. "And I'm here with an ultimatum for Lt. Surge. That's you, right?"

Surge laughed and nodded. "You've got an ultimatum for me, in my gym, in my town? Where do you get off kid, arrogance or stupidity?"

"I want your gym's badge, and I want you gone. I know you're with Team Rocket and you're the one responsible for sucking Vermilion dry. Sound fair?"

"Ha!" Surge laughed again, throwing his head back and crossing his arms. He looked at Ash, scanned across Charmeleon and Pikachu, until his eyes lighted across Misty who had been staring at him since she entered the room. Surge's smile faded and the two looked at each other, both staring for the longest second of Misty's life. "Well I'll be damned," Surge muttered, almost under his breath. He turned back to Ash as Misty's face went pale with recognition. "For someone who doesn't like Team Rocket, you sure keep some weird company. I'm no saint, but that thing right there," he pointed a finger at Misty, "I've got nothing on it."

Misty, pale and unable to breathe, looked at Ash. She couldn't tell why he was still looking across the room at Surge. _He's lying_, she wanted to lie, but the words stuck between her lungs and her throat like a lead weight.

"You want to talk about murderers and thieves and whores," Surge went on as Ash swallowed the lump in his throat, "I can tell you some tales about Team Rocket's best deep cover agent in years." He waved his finger at Misty and grinned. "Even when I worked for Rocket outside Kanto, I heard about some of her exploits. Ha! I don't suppose she told you about the time she _got engaged_ to some poor sap working against Team Rocket in Cerulean to get close enough to knife him in the back for us?"

Ash twitched but remained stone faced, even as Misty began to shake. She wrapped her arms tightly around her waist and remained staring at the side of Ash's face.

"I'm not here about her," Ash broke in, interrupting Surge as he was about to speak. "Are you going to give me Vermilion's badge, or not?"

A smug grin spread across Surge's face as he stared across the room at his challengers. He turned around and walked to the opposite side of the arena, taking three pokeballs from his belt and tossing them to the ground. Three little explosions of white lit up the room and surrounded Surge with a trio of Pokemon. In front of him sat a golden and black Raichu, standing up to nearly double Pikachu's height. On his right stood a second Electabuzz, this one nearly the same size as the one which remained in the center of the ring, and on Surge's left appeared what looked like a pokeball more than a meter high. The Electrode rolled around on its side and looked across the arena with an unsettling grin.

"Bring it!" Surge laughed, holding out his arms.

Ash turned around and looked at Misty. Immediately she looked away and went even paler, pressing her lips into a thin line. "It'll be alright," he said with a reassuring grin, as though absolutely nothing in the world was wrong. "I promise."

Misty looked up but couldn't say anything. She couldn't tell whether her heart was beating fast enough to explode or if it was a motionless lump in her chest, but either way, all she could do was nod.

Ash turned around, leveling a confident glare at Surge as he walked out to the edge of the arena, flanked by a Charmeleon that looked ready to fly into a rage, and a Pikachu as cool as ever. Reaching out with a thought for Haunter, Ash instructed the ghost to hang around the middle of the arena. _If you can do anything to give us an edge,_ instructed the trainer, _go for it. Don't be too obvious though. We need this to stay one on one and look at least mostly legit or Surge might rush us. If that happens, we're all dead. Clear?_

Haunter acknowledged with a giddy laugh, audible only to Ash, barely able to contain its excitement.

"So," Ash called, "what do you say about single combat, one at a time? If I win then you give me a badge and leave town. If you win-"

"If I win," Surge interrupted, "you're a dead man. Electabuzz, you're up!"

The big Electabuzz in the middle of the ring remained put, sparks of lightning crackling between the nodes on its head. It slammed its fists together in a shower of sparks that sprayed out more than ten feet.

"Good," said Ash. He looked at Charmeleon and nodded. "Get in there," said the trainer. "I don't think I need to tell you what to do." Practically vibrating with energy, Charmeleon jumped in front of Ash, tail thrashing about and cutting dusty swaths in the sand. Ash stole a quick look at Charmeleon's flank and raised one eyebrow. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but as near as he could tell, the Pokemon's wounds had completely closed up.

"Thunderpunch!" Surge yelled, beginning the match.

"Tear it to ribbons!" Ash ordered.

Electabuzz tore forward at the same instant that Charmeleon bolted on all fours with a screaming battle cry. Electabuzz swung at the lizard, fist shining with energy, and yelled out in surprise when Charmeleon disappeared in a blast of sand. The electrically charged punch connected with nothing but empty air as Charmeleon's tail threw a blinding wave of sand into the Pokemon's eyes, and scuttled behind it. As the yellow Pokemon reached up to its eyes, Charmeleon leapt at it, all four legs out with claws ready to rend and tear.

"Claw it!" Ash ordered.

Immediately Charmeleon latched onto the Electabuzz with its front legs and jerked its back legs downward, raking the Electabuzz and tearing into its pelt. Surge grinned a little, even as his Pokemon tried to fight off the Charmeleon's furious assault, and cleared his throat. Charmeleon hissed and bit down into its prey's shoulder, fangs cutting deep and staining yellow fur red.

Surge shook his head. "Sloppy," he muttered. "Electabuzz!" His voice rose. "Shockwave!"

The yellow Pokemon's eyes snapped open and flashed white. Charmeleon yelped in pain, flung off his target and sent skidding across the ground, propelled by a wave of sparking energy. Ash grimaced as Charmeleon landed and rolled, "Get up!" he shouted. "Charmeleon move!"

"Thunderpunch," Surge called out.

Clenched fist glowing brilliantly, Electabuzz charged in towards a staggered Charmeleon and swung downwards. Ash gritted his teeth and braced to watch Charmeleon take the blow, but a wisp of cold air, perceptible only to Ash, whipped around the charging Pokemon's feet and lifted one foot slightly higher off the ground that normal, toppling Electabuzz forward where it slammed its face into the ground before Charmeleon. The electrical energy exploded out in a shower of sparks as the Pokemon lost control of its attack, stunning itself.

_Thank you Haunter,_ Ash sighed mentally. "Flamethrower!" he yelled.

The word seemed to resonate in Charmeleon's mind even before Ash finished uttering it. The fiery lizard rolled onto all fours, maw snapping open. The red fire rolled out of Charmeleon's mouth like lava, then picked up speed as the Pokemon roared to blast it forward. The firestorm seemed to ignite even the sand, much less Electabuzz, and the yellow Pokemon's fur burst into flame. As Surge cursed under his breath and reached for a pokeball, his Electabuzz rolled around on the ground, slapping at its burning patches of fur and screaming in a low drone.

Ash gritted his teeth, and watched as Surge pointed the pokeball at his Pokemon. "Alright, you've managed to take down one," said Surge as his Electabuzz turned white and vanished into the red laser shining out of the pokeball. "But that's just one down," he clipped the ball to his belt. "Electrode, get out there!"

The red and white orb of a Pokemon acknowledged with a rumbling hum and rolled out onto the field as Charmeleon watched with blood rage in its eyes. The fiery Pokemon hissed its call and slapped its tail to the ground, waiting for Ash's order. The young trainer swallowed hard and looked around at Misty. Something felt horribly wrong. He all of a sudden wanted to walk away and forget about the fight, insane as the idea sounded, but seeing Misty standing there, even if she didn't smile back at him, reassured him some.

"Tackle!" Surge ordered.

"Slash it!" Ash countered.

The Electrode spun on its axis and shot forwards toward Charmeleon. Whizzing passed it as Charmeleon raised one claw to cut it as Electrode shot by. The spherical Pokemon's hardened outer shell shrieked under the impact and a bolt of electricity arced between its form and Charmeleon. The fiery Pokemon hissed in surprise and anger, charging after the retreating orb and leaping at it.

"Be careful!" Ash shouted after his Pokemon. "Don't be stupid!"

Surge took a contented breath and sighed as Charmeleon came down on Electrode, digging all its claws into the spherical Pokemon and biting at it with smoking jaws. "Self-Destruct," he called out casually as Electrode and Charmeleon rolled towards Ash.

Ash froze as the Electrode, with no hesitation, flashed white and disappeared. Less than an instant later the whole world seemed to go silent and completely white. A crushing wall of pressure and roar of wind threw Ash to the ground just before an infernal heat basted over him and knocked him several feet backwards, out of the arena. Sucking in a breath only filled his lungs with hot smoke, making Ash wheeze and cough. Opening his eyes and looking around, he for a moment thought he was blind and deaf, but gradually clarity returned to the world and he could hear fuzzy sounds. One sound was his name.

He focused on the face above him as Misty came into view, kneeling beside him and trying to pull him into a sitting position. "Get up," he heard her saying as though she were far away. "Ash, please stand up!"

The young trainer, shell shocked and aching all over, crawled up to his feet, holding onto Misty and looking around. As the smoke cleared through the shattered skylights and windows, Ash saw Surge, standing behind his second Electabuzz like a shield. He saw Charmeleon and his heart jumped. The Pokemon lay unconscious, but breathing he saw, in a heap on the other side of the gym. How Charmeleon had survived, Ash had no idea. The Electrode was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you alright?" Misty asked, her voice becoming clearer as Ash reached for his belt. "Ash, can you talk? Are you OK?"

The young trainer nodded and shifted to stand on his own, grabbing a pokeball and taking aim at Charmeleon. "I'm alright, I'm alright," he muttered, throwing the pokeball towards his Charmeleon as Misty helped steady him. "What the hell happened?"

Surge waved his hand in front of his face to clear away some of the dissipating smoke. "Whew!" he shouted to Ash after a cough. "That was really something, wasn't it?" He laughed once. "Funny creatures Electrodes, so willing to blow themselves up on a moment's notice. That one was a valuable asset and look how quick I was to use it to its fullest against you," Surge smirked. "Now if I'll treat one of my own like that, what do you think I'm going to do with the two of you?"

Ash glanced at Misty, then down at Pikachu who hunkered shivering behind his leg. He felt about the room for Haunter, finding the shaken ghost waiting for orders to one side of the arena. Across the empathetic link Ash couldn't miss the sudden fear in the ghost's attitude.

"Two to one now little man!" Surge shouted. "And I have reserves. Electabuzz, get your ass out there!"

Without a sound the second Electabuzz, a look of determination and calm on its face, stepped into the arena as the last of the smoke cleared. Ash looked to Pikachu, who looked up at him, ears flat back against its head. "You're up," said Ash. "Be careful."

Pikachu nodded and walked forward, chittering nervously. Ash shook his head, more glad than ever that Misty was there to help keep him stable. "We might be in trouble." _This guy has got to go..._

SC

The Arbok flailed wildly, and Brock could only be glad that he'd turned in time. Rather than being swallowed whole or skewered on Arbok's fangs, the serpent had rather swallowed the Gym Leader's right arm and shoulder when its fangs deflected off Brock's armor. Lifting the Gym Leader up in the air and tossing him about like a toy, Arbok tried to snap Brock's arm loose, but the human drove his free hand into the snake's eye and held fast. Fortunately for Brock, he'd been holding his knife in his right hand when Arbok struck and now, screaming and holding on for dear life, he stabbed again and again into the Pokemon's soft palate, hoping to strike Arbok's walnut-sized brain.

While Brock grappled with the serpent, Golem struggled furiously with James' Venusaur. The boulder of a Pokemon bled from numerous wounds cut in the softer flesh between the chinks in his armor. An exhausted Onyx contended with a nearly crippled Machamp, swiping at the more agile Pokemon with its scythed tail or trying to slam it to keep it away from Brock. Jesse and James stood back, confidently watching the display for the shade of the woods.

Brock yelped in pain as Arbok spat him out and slapped him down on the ground, expectorating blood and hissing venom. The purple snake reeled overhead, hood flared out wide over him just before the lethal blow. The Gym Leader steeled himself, refusing to die afraid and glad that, if nothing else, he'd bought Ash a little more time and given these Rocket bastards a good fight.

A sizzling blast of white energy shot over Brock's head and crashed into Arbok, sending the snake reeling and immediately drawing James and Jessie's attention. A black figure bolted over Brock and hovered there as the air filled with a screeching yell. Looking up, Brock thought a pair of trees had stepped into position between him and his attackers. He could only push himself up to an elbow and watch as the trees, which stood on two legs and sported crowns of tall blades of grass rather than branches, shook wildly and threw out small seeds towards Jesse and James. The seeds exploded in midair with deafening shock waves and blinding flashes of light that made Brock bury his face in the crook of his elbow.

Shouting and screaming followed, trampling feet and flashes of light occupied Brock's attention for the next minute, until he got his bearings and pushed up to his feet. Golem was laying on its back, bleeding from several large, if nonlethal, wounds, and the two trees, exotic Pokemon Brock saw, stood between the Gym Leader and where the battle had just finished. Onyx roared and shifted as though he wanted to pursue the attackers, but elected to wait for Brock. Jesse and James were gone.

"Hurt, not bad, need to stand up, might still be trouble," Brock heard the voice and turned around to see where it was coming from.

The sharp aquiline nose, white lab coat, and eccentric grey hair were unmistakable. "Bill?" Brock muttered, getting to his feet. "Not to... I mean... where dd you come from?"

"Stupid question, need to get to town, away from those two, they'll be back," Bill rattled off in a second as he paced about. "But came looking for Pokedex. Been no data transmission for days, minimal amount before that, needed to know what Ash was doing, make sure he hadn't died." Bill sucked in a sharp breath. "That would be bad."

"Um," Brock stammered, looking towards Golem as the Pokemon rolled over and slowly got up. "Thanks for saving me."

"Exeggutors saved you," said Bill shoving his face towards Brock. "Thank them. Where's Ketchum?"

"Vermillion I think," said Brock. "He went to challenge the Gym Leader for the badge."

SC

Panting heavily and smoking, Pikachu arched its back and hissed as the Electabuzz fell in front of it in a heap. Surge, long since passed laughing, returned the defeated Pokemon to its pokeball with a flick of his wrist and a flash of light.

"Raichu," said a fuming Lt. Surge. "You'll be more than a match for this one. Take it out."

"Pikachu," said Ash, anxiety gnawing at him as he watched his beleaguered Pokemon square off against Surge's fresh trooper. "Finish this last one and we're done. We're almost there." Chittering an acknowledgment, Pikachu made the first move and shot forward like a bullet out of a gun. Catching a surprised Raichu off guard, Pikachu slammed into his opponent with a burst of sparks and light.

"Quick attack!" Surge and Ash yelled in unison.

From her vantage point at the back of the arena by the door, Misty could only try to keep track of the battle as Pikachu and Surge's Raichu disappeared in blurs of sand and speed, appearing just long enough to make a slam attack against the other before disappearing again. Little dirt devils were the only indicators of where the Pokemon might appear before they struck, and as often as not, Pikachu and Raichu would zap into and out of view on the opposite side of the arena from the tufts of dust they kicked up when they ran.

_Haunter!_ Ash called out, trying to catch the ghost. _You've got to do something to trip up that Raichu._

Over the empathetic link, Ash sensed the ghost's quandary. Both Pokemon were moving too fast for Haunter to do anything that didn't involve a flashy display that would catch up Pikachu as likely as Surge's Raichu. _Shit!_ Ash swore in his mind. He jerked around when he felt Haunter rush passed him and out of the room. _Wait, where are you going? Stop_! He called after the ghost._Come back!_

"This is bad," Ash muttered.

In a blast of electricity that made the hairs on Ash's arm stand up, Pikachu and Raichu appeared in the center of the arena and crashed into one another. Both Pokemon went tumbling, trying to recover from the impact, but the fresher Raichu got to its feet faster and charged Pikachu. As Raichu slammed into the smaller rodent, it bit into Pikachu's shoulder and ripped the Pokemon about.

"Stop!" Ash yelled. "You win! I'll surrender!"

"I told you," said Surge as Raichu threw Pikachu to the ground and stood over him like a successful predator, "When I win, you're a dead man."

Ash could have dropped to his knees at the sight of his Pokemon, barely hanging on, laying there beaten. "Surge, wait," said the trainer as the Lieutenant strode forward into the arena, drawing a short knife from his pocket and flipping it point down. "I'll do whatever you want," he said. "Just don't."

Misty stepped up beside Ash, grabbing a pokeball and readying to throw it.

"Oh please," Surge sneered at Misty. "You're Pokemon are no match for my Raichu. He's got enough energy to fight that battle five times over again."

Ash clenched his fists and would have bolted forward, but Misty grabbed his arm and held him back. "We should run," she hissed in his ear.

"No!" Ash barked. "Not without-"

"Your little Pikachu?" Surge interrupted, holding the knife right beside the unconscious rodent. "Aw I wouldn't worry top much about him anymore."

All three trainers turned in surprise as the door to the arena creaked open, shattering the atmosphere. In the doorway stood a single man in overalls and a yellow hard hat, flanked by two other figures standing in the shadows. Ash couldn't miss the presence of the ghost as Haunter floated invisibly behind the new arrivals, quickly contacting Ash and gloating about bringing reinforcements.

"Baily?" Surge spat, standing up and ignoring Pikachu. "Where the fuck have you been? I could have used your help half an hour ago."

Stepping from behind Baily into the light and raising a cocked and loaded crossbow, Brock leveled the weapon at Surge and fired without hesitation. The Broadhead thudded into Surge's chest, cutting through his sternum with a spray of red and jutting out his back. Surge stood there for a moment, mouth wide as he looked down at the wound, and then up at Brock. The mortally wounded soldier twisted his lips to say something, but fell back before the words escaped his mouth. He dropped into the sand and stared at the ceiling as he stopped moving and his panicked Raichu wheeled around in shock.

Misty released Blastoise and Starmie to flank her as she glared at the Raichu. "Get out!" she ordered the Pokemon. Surge's Raichu squeaked in fear and bolted for a shattered window, scampering up the wall and leaping outside.

Running forward and scooping up Pikachu, Ash looked down at his Pokemon, assessing the wounds and breathing a deep sigh of relief. He'd seen Pikachu in worse condition, no matter how much it pained him to see it like this now. He turned around and saw a battered Brock, the man in the hardhat from earlier, and Bill walking into the room. The young trainer's face lit up as he walked back to the group and tried unsuccessfully to think of something to say.

Bill beat him to the greeting. "Why haven't you been working on the Pokedex?" Demanded the professor. "Answer! Thought you might be dead! Thought Rocket might have captured device! Speak!"

Ash looked at his grandfather's old friend and laughed once. "I'm so glad to see you guys," he said at length. "What are you doing here?"

"Pokedex!" Bill shouted.

"_We_," interrupted Brock, putting his bruised hand on Bill's shoulder, "thought you might be in trouble and decided to come look for you. I ran into Bill outside Vermilion and we came into town together to find you. That was when Baily here ran into us and asked if we were real trainers and if we could help another trainer beat the Gym Leader."

Baily nodded and piped up, "I figured that if someone was really going to challenge Surge like you said you were, then I should do my part and find help for them wherever I could. The man was ruining my town and I'm glad he's gone."

"Baily showed us the way here," said Brock. "And not a moment too soon by the looks of it."

Ash sighed in relief, feeling Haunter come over the link with a smug reaction. The ghost told Ash it had sensed Brock's familiar aura nearing and went to make sure he found his way here. The young trainer shook his head and thanked the ghost. "Well," he said, looking back as blood formed a pool of red sand around Surge's body. "It might be hard to get him to sign a recommendation now..."

"I think the Elite Four will understand," said Misty, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"We'll be needing someone to take his place," said Baily somberly, reaching up and removing his hardhat. He ran a hand through his sparse black hair. "Someone will need to take over the gym and see to it that Vermilion can get back to running profitably."

"Well then answer is simple," said Bill, drawing all the attention in the room to himself and then stopping short.

"Yes?" Ash prompted. "What's the answer?"

"Ay," Bill sighed, scratching his scalp. "Fishes and sharks. You," he pushed his finger against Ash's chest. "Ash Ketchum will take over for Lt. Surge."

"What?" Ash stepped back, putting up his hands, nearly dropping Pikachu, and stumbling to catch his unconscious Pokemon. "What do you mean me?"

Misty walked forward and carefully took Pikachu from Ash, rocking the Pokemon and stroking its fur. "I'm not sure it works that way," the girl said to Bill. "Gym Leaders have to be appointed by the Elite Four or voted on by the citizens."

"Corrupt Gym Leader is dead," said Bill. "Town needs protector more experienced than any trainer here, and Ketchum would work. Simple, and you will have time to work on Pokedex instead of traveling. Defeats purpose of giving you Pokedex in the first place, since I wanted you to travel, but this would be better than you not working on it at all. Acceptable compromise then. Yes?"

"You did save Lavender," said Brock. "I can vouch for you there so your credentials aren't in question."

"Whoa, hold on," said Ash, turning to Brock. "What makes you think I want to be a Gym Leader?"

Baily cleared his throat and plopped his hardhat back on his head. "You stood up to Surge, so you can't be any worse than him. I'll vote for you if you want the job, and the rest of the gym will follow my lead. We do need someone in charge and it sure isn't going to be me," he shrugged. "And after Surge, I'm not sure I trust the folks in this town to vote for someone to lead the gym."

"What about the mayor?" asked Ash. "He'll want a say in this."

"Let the fat prick rot in Celadon," Baily said, not hiding his disdain. "That guy abandoned us for money so I say we let him see what it feels like to be abandoned himself."

"Brock takes care of dealings with Elite Four," said Bill, "Engineer Baily rallies gym staff so Ketchum can become Gym Leader here and work on Pokedex. Settled."

"Not settled," retorted Ash, holding out his hands, heart racing. "I have not once said I want to be a Gym Leader. What about taking on Team Rocket? We need to keep going after them."

Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Surge was Team Rocket. He represented their interests in Vermilion and with him gone there's a vacuum. Someone needs to step into it before Rocket can recover and put in someone they want. Ash, I think you're a good bet. If you can keep Rocket out of Vermilion then that's a lot of resources they lose. That is going after them where it hurts, their wallets."

"I don't know the first thing about running a city or a gym," Ash responded.

"You wouldn't have to run the city," said Baily. "Your friends are right, I think. We need someone in place who can keep Rocket at bay and you seem good for the job. With Surge gone it won't be hard to put together a city council to run the day to day affairs. You'd be in charge of making sure that the council had the safety to do their jobs without worrying about physical threats."

Ash pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "I don't-" he began and stopped, going silent for a minute. "I mean I wouldn't know-" he stopped again. He quickly turned to Misty, looking her in the eye and making her jump as he did. "What do you think?" he asked.

Misty stammered for a second and looked at him. She smiled a little and pushed the anxiety in the back of her mind away completely. "I'll follow you in whatever you do," she said. "But I think the others have a point. You're a born leader and you'd be good for this."

Ash nodded and took a deep breath, thinking for a moment in the silence his friends let him have. "Fine," he said after a long pause. "I'll do it. Now what?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – The World of Change

While signs of spring blossomed everywhere, winter had yet to fully die and the temperature in Vermilion remained cold. Wrapped tightly in his heavy clothes, Ash breathed through a thick scarf and squinted against the bone numbing wind that whistled passed him in the black. Putting a gloved hand up to his temple and pressing a button on the small headset resting on his ear, the trainer radioed his partner.

"Misty," he said, speaking over the wind. "How are things ground-side?"

A moment of silence and then static in his ear. "Warmer down here than up there I'd think," Misty answered over the headset. "I'm ready a hundred yards from the raiders. I've got four of them in the camp and it doesn't look like any more will be showing up before sunrise. I can't see the little girl. What do you see from up there?"

Ash paused and held onto the reins of the saddle draped over his Pidgeot's back. The large bird glided silently through the clouds almost six thousand feet above the ground. Ash felt the Pokemon's unyielding muscles shift and contract beneath him as Pidgeot corrected for the biting winds that blew her off course. Glancing to his left, only able to pick the Pokemon out of the gloom by the faint red glow at the tip of its tail, Ash made sure Charizard remained in formation. The dragon snorted out a small jet of deep red flame and Ash nodded, knowing that Charizard's vision was more than acute enough to see him in the near blackness.

Holding onto Pidgeot with his legs and one hand, despite being securely strapped into the exotic saddle, Ash reached for the pack between his legs and drew out a device the size of a small brick. Holding it up to one eye and nudging Pidgeot with the signal to slowly descend, Ash looked through the monocular contraption at the ground and pressed a button. Immediately Charizard, visible in the lens's extreme peripheral vision, lit up like the sun, the Pokemon's near molten core temperature registering clearly on the thermal imager. While Pidgeot responded to Ash's tactile instructions and banked gently to circle a vast stretch of forest a few miles inland from the coast, Ash focused on the ground.

"I love technology..." he muttered as several white dots appeared against the black backdrop of the ground far below. Five ant-shaped of the dots sat in close formation around what Ash thought to be a campfire. Three hundred feet away Ash saw four more blips, two much smaller than the others. Ash reasoned that Misty huddled near Arcanine for warmth, given her staunch refusal to wear more than a light jacket under her armor, and that Vaporeon and Pikachu remained on the flanks.

"It looks like the girl is tied up on the ground," Ash spoke into the radio. "She's a few feet to the left of the guy standing up and turning around," he added, carefully scrutinizing the blips.

Several thousand feet below, Misty watched the camp through a pair of binoculars. Kneeling by Arcanine and shivering in the cold she adjusted the zoom and the focus. "I see the one standing up," she said as one man walked to the edge of the camp and unzipped his pants to relieve himself. "I'm still not seeing the little girl though... oh," she noted as realization dawned on her. "There's another bandit in the way. I see where you're talking about, but I can't see the girl."

"Be careful when we go in," Ash said over the radio, his voice almost overpowered by the hissing wind. "Stick to the plan... just make sure Vaporeon hits the man closest to the prisoner with a precision attack."

"Right," Misty answered. "I'm moving closer."

"I'll signal you before I send Charizard in," said Ash. "One target for each Pokemon," he instructed a moment later... let's make this as quick and clean before they can get their Pokemon out."

Misty nodded as she crawled. "Sounds good," she said. "Out."

For such a large and garishly colored Pokemon, Arcanine moved with surprising alacrity. The huge canine made next to no sound as it stalked through the brush beside Misty, and what noise it did make could easily be passed off as a tricks of the wind in the trees. Of course, Vaporeon moved like a sapphire ghost in the night, startling even Misty with its agility, while Pikachu quietly brought up the flank opposite Arcanine.

Stopping less than a dozen yards from the edge of the rough clearing where the raiders had camped for the night, Misty shook her head. _I can't believe these idiots,_ she thought. _They know Ash is hunting them, and they don't even bother to keep their Pokemon out at night... They deserve this._ "Ready," Misty whispered into her headset.

A moment passed in silence and then Ash came in on the radio. "Charizard is going to take out the two sleeping ones. Keep Arcanine in reserve and pick your targets. Twenty seconds."

Misty pressed her lips together. She'd scouted out the camp as she's approached and chose several minutes ago which Pokemon would hit which outlaw. Using hand signals she pointed and informed Pikachu and Vaporeon of which marauders they were to attack. When both Pokemon nodded in acknowledgment, Misty held one fist at eye level, counting the seconds and waiting to give the order. The instant she heard the slight rush of wind from above, even before she saw Charizard's bulk, she threw her fist forward and whistled.

From two thousand feet up, Ash watched via the thermal optics as Charizard's silhouette grew smaller and smaller, diving for the collection of humanoid shapes. The same instant as Charizard landed directly upon the prone figures, a bolt of white lightning arced between Pikachu's form and another man, and the raider standing at the edge of the encampment dropped headless as Vaporeon's shape rushed by him. A little over a second and a half later, the sounds of Charizard's hard landing, the clap of a thunderbolt, and a small compilation of screams reached Ash's ears. By that point however, the fight had been over for longer than it had lasted. The last standing humanoid blip rushed from the sidelines with Arcanine to the side of the prone human and knelt. Ash heard Misty's voice immediately thereafter.

"I've got the girl," said the trainer on the ground. "She's intact."

Ash's confident grin widened to a broad smile. "Wonderful," he said, elation obvious in his tone. "I'm on my way down."

"Don't keep me waiting now," Misty answered.

Ash scanned the campsite one last time with the thermal while the Pokemon below set up a perimeter, then cast about the surrounding woods for as far as he could make out any detail. As near as the trainer could tell, there was nothing larger than a Rattata within half a kilometer of the campfire. Putting away the imager, Ash took Pidgeot's squatty reins and guided the Pokemon down to the clearing. Landing a few meters to the side of the campfire, listening to the crying of the terrified young girl as Misty tried to console her, Ash undid the straps holding his legs to the side of the bird's saddle.

"Good girl," he smiled at Pidgeot and ran his hand through her cold feathers, feeling the Pokemon's warm skin beneath. "That was a job well done." The immense bird cooed happily under his touch, and followed Ash in short hops as the trainer walked to the scene of the fight.

Arcanine barked and yipped with youthful vivacity as Ash neared, pawing at the ground but not moving from his defensive position. Charizard and Vaporeon both decided to honor the trainer by acknowledging his existence with a glance as Ash passed by, and Pikachu eagerly jumped up to Ash's shoulder. While Misty quietly half-spoke and half-sang to the little girl cowering in her embrace, Ash stepped up next to his partner, who looked up at him with a calm smile.

"There there," Misty murmured, stroking the child's hair and holding her. "You're safe. We're going to take you home to your momma and dad." She looked up at Ash. "We did good," she said, standing and scooping up the girl with some effort as the child almost immediately passed out against her.

"Damn straight we did," Ash answered with a grin. He paused and looked at Misty, then glanced around at the dead bodies scattered throughout the camp. "It's too bad it had to come to this, but at least the rescue went off without a hitch."

Misty shrugged. "The least they could have done is pick a crime that's less complicated than kidnapping," Misty half-joked. "They should have known they'd have nowhere they could really hide out here in the wild so they brought it on themselves. Kidnapping's a crime, and this is what criminals get."

SC

The harbingers of sunlight had just begun to light up the eastern sky when Ash and Misty arrived in Vermilion, escorted by Vaporeon, Pikachu, and Arcanine. Misty carried the sleeping little girl wrapped in a blanket as the two trainers stepped up onto the front porch of a small house on the outskirts of the city. Ash rapped on the door and stood back. Only a moment later the obtrusive clicking of several locks sounded in the predawn gloom. The door opened wide and a man fully dressed in a wrinkled suit stepped out onto the porch. Immediately his eyes watered and his mouth dropped open as he held out his arms for the girl.

"Shh," said Misty, turning her charge over to the man, who buried his face into the girl's hair.

As another woman stepped from the house onto the porch wearing a bathrobe, the man looked up at Ash and Misty with tears in his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered, "thank you so much. Thank you a million times."

The woman stepped beside her husband and the couple stood close around their daughter as the little girl sleepily opened her eyes and looked up at her parents. Ash and Misty watched quietly, both smiling, as the family reunited. After several moments of tearful whispering and hugging, the woman picked up her daughter, thanked Ash and Misty in a hushed whisper, and stepped inside the house.

"Well," said the man in his thick accent, putting his fist up to his mouth as he coughed to clear his throat. He ran a finger under his eyes and smiled at the trainers. "Again thank you a million times. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't helped us..."

Ash put up a hand. "It was my pleasure," he said. "As long as you're in Vermilion, your safety is my priority. I'm only sorry that this happened in the first place."

"As am I," said the man with the thick black mustache and thinning hair. "The bandits no doubt followed me here hoping that they could extort my company's profits from me by kidnapping my daughter... not that I wouldn't have given them everything they wanted for her safe return. I'm just so glad that you were here," he looked between Ash and Misty. "You saved both my business and my family. If there's anything I can ever do to repay you-"

"The most I'd ever ask of you," Ash interrupted, "is that that you wouldn't let this incident make you decide to move your business out of Vermilion. The trade you bring in is good for the town and you employ a lot of people."

"I'd never dream of it," said the merchant. "My family likes it here by the sea. And with you here I have no doubts that the town will only get safer."

Ash bowed slightly and shook the merchant's hand. "Thank you," he said. "Hearing that means a lot to me." The Gym Leader shifted to leave and Misty did the same. "Good luck with your business in the future."

The foreign merchant smiled as Ash and Misty descended the stairs. "Thank you again. I think that bright days are ahead and if you ever need anything of me, please ask and I would be honored to help."

Ash waved as he and Misty turned down the street, rejoining Arcanine and Vaporeon. He took Misty's hand and the two trainers set off towards the gym.

"I'd say that was a good day's work," said Ash. "It's a relief seeing that family back together."

"I'm glad we could help," she agreed. "I'm also glad we could convince Suresh to keep his business here in Vermilion."

The Gym Leader grinned. "It's been a long road getting people like him into town, but I think it's finally beginning to pay off."

Misty grabbed Ash's arm and walked close to him, nodding after returning Vaporeon to its pokeball as Ash did likewise with Arcanine.

It had been more than a year since Ash had taken over as Gym Leader in Vermilion, and under his watch the town had begun to recover from Lt. Surge's corruption and oppression. The going early on was hard though, and more than once Misty had wanted Ash to give up on the city for his own sake. Dealing with the fledgling city council, trying to protect Vermilion from the near constant highwayman trouble in the wilds around the town, and looking for ways to peacefully reduce a spiraling crime rate had all stretched Ash to the breaking point. Even with Misty there to help, Ash's health had begun to suffer as he barely ate or slept and worked constantly. Through it all and as if by miracle however, Ash had remained constantly positive. Working on behalf of the people around him, no matter how much it taxed him to do so, gave Ash a purpose and an inner strength that baffled Misty, and anyone who knew the Gym Leader for that matter.

Over the course of several months and a long series of events, Ash's efforts to reduce the crime rate, aided by Nurse Joy's endless capacity for charity began to buy the young city council the freedom from fear of crime it needed to get the hang of running the city. With Surge gone however, enterprise in Vermilion began to regain control over the natural resources in the territory, alleviating some of the woes imposed on the city by poverty and unemployment. Additionally, when the 'Gym Wars,' as the battle in Saffron City had come to be known, finally began to calm down after the swift and decisive actions of the Psychic's Gym, the Vermilion City Council had wasted no time in re-securing trade between the two cities. This in turn brought a new wave of entrepreneurs and merchants looking to exploit the new business opportunities on the coast, away from Saffron's many regulations.

Vermilion was by no means a utopia however. Unemployment and crime were still visible threats to the city, but things seemed to be getting better. Vermilion was getting cleaner by the day, every month the homeless grew less numerous, and new businesses sprung up all across the city, inspiring people from as far away as Celadon to move to Vermilion in search of new opportunities. Viridian especially proved to be a source of new faces for Vermilion, as people flocked from the western city to the cities in the east to escape the growing lack of food.

Even Pewter, Ash had heard from Brock on one of the older Gym Leader's many visits to Vermilion, had begun to suffer under the food crisis. Despite being largely self-sufficient, Pewter's citizens had begun to learn to go without much of the food they had once imported from the southwest, relying instead on the hardy staples Pewter had so long produced for itself. That had worried Ash more than a little, as, according to Brock, the farms west of Viridian that provided much of the food consumed as far east as Fuchsia and Celadon had begun producing less and less, with no explanation as to why. In Vermilion it wasn't so bad as the town had just recently redeveloped the capacity to fish on a large scale, but nonetheless, Ash had noticed that grains and vegetables from the west were far less common than they had once been.

"What do you think we should do with them?" Misty asked, coming out of her reflections and looking up at Ash. "The Pokemon we took from those raiders, I mean."

Ash shrugged, apparently trekking through his own thoughts as well. "I don't know," he muttered absentmindedly, then with a grin he went on, "I guess I was planning to send them to Bill for research like all the rest, unless you think you might be able to find us a fence for them or something."

Misty stopped in mid step and nearly made Ash stumble.

"I'm sorry," Ash added as soon as he'd finished his statement. "I didn't mean to-"

"You promised," said Misty, her face hardening. "Ash, you promised me you'd stop joking about things like that."

"I know I did, I didn't mean to," said the younger trainer, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. The two resumed walking, more slowly than before and Misty still held Ash's arm, though her demeanor seemed to chill rather than warm him. "I'm sorry," said Ash after they'd walked a few blocks. "I really didn't mean to make a joke of it, or bring it up at all. Forgive me?"

"I thought I really went out on a limb telling you everything," said Misty. "And then to find out that you'd heard it all already, _from Kasumi_ of all people... I just want you to stop teasing me about it. A little joke here, a reminder there... It hurts, Ash."

They'd been through this conversation before but usually it took a greater blunder on his part, Ash reflected, to put Misty this on edge. He wondered to himself in the back of his mind if seeing the merchant's family in a state of joy had somehow inflamed her. "I'm sorry," he repeated, putting the groundless thought out of his head. "Genuinely, I am."

"Then stop," Misty responded, looking over and up at him. "I realize it's nothing big to you, but it's important to me, OK?"

Ash nodded. "I understand," he toned, then paused for a long minute, trying to think of what to say next. "I just can't see you as that person you told me about though," he added, making Misty shift uneasily. "I haven't ever thought of you as anyone other than the fiery, beautiful, save-my-ass-in-a-pinch Misty I've always known."

Misty sighed and looked up at he slowly lightening sky. It was going to be another clear day, she thought. "Then you don't understand," she said. "Ash, you've never had to live with anything like... like with what I... you can't understand."

"Then let me say it again, I don't want to," Ash said quickly. "Misty, I've said it before but you're too hard on yourself. You're different now and you need to stop beating yourself up over the past."

"You're never going to get it," sighed the young woman.

"Maybe not. But for what it's worth, I'm really sorry about what I said."

Misty groaned a little under her breath and shook her head. "It's alright," she said a few paces later. "Let's just forget about it."

Nodding, Ash walked a little closer to her, glad her mood had lifted, if only a little. "What can I do to convince you that you're a really good person?" he asked. "And that I really am absolutely crazy about you despite my sometimes shoving my foot in my mouth?"

Misty didn't answer.

As the first glimpses of the sun began to crest the horizon in the east, Ash and Misty turned onto the street leading to the gym. A few blocks away the trainers saw the building, its roof being the first structure in the city to catch the morning sun. At the same time, Ash felt his empathetic link with Haunter beginning to push to the forefront of his mind. That made both trainer and ghost grin internally, as they'd missed each other during the last several days while Haunter had been patrolling the countryside. On top of greeting Ash and expressing gladness to be back, Haunter informed the trainer that two guests awaited him at the gym. When pressed, Haunter added that one was a young woman and the other was an older man with a confident air about him.

"No way," Ash muttered, his arm still around Misty as the trainers rounded the open gate and stepped into the gym's spacious courtyard. His eyes locked on the visitors waiting a few yards away and he laughed once, a smile leaping to his lips. "Grandpa!" he stepped in front of Misty.

The Professor stepped away from his accomplice and took his hands out of his travel-worn and dirty lab coat. "Oh, good to see you," he said, throwing his arms around his grandson and giving him a bear hug. "You've grown," Oak declared, stepping back and looking Ash over, "quite a lot. Bill said you were maturing, but I didn't think he meant all this... leading a gym and everything. Wow."

"Who cares about that?" Ash asked, "Where have you been? I haven't seen any sign of you since we left Pallet Town."

"Ah, that," said Oak, his face falling some. "It's something of a story, and perhaps one best told over breakfast, eh?"

Ash nodded. "Of course," he said. "We don't have too much in the kitchen, but I'm sure we can find something." He gestured to the door of the building to the main gym's east. "Misty and I have been sharing the old Gym Leader's quarters and I'd have to say she's done a beautiful job with it."

Oak looked passed Ash and nodded to Misty with a smile. "Misty," he said politely. "It's a pleasure."

Misty responded with an equally polite grin and inclined her head some. "Same here," she said, trying not to blush as Ash so casually revealed that they'd been living together. "I can make everyone something to eat if you're all hungry." She glanced between Ash, Oak, and the thus far silent visitor.

Prompted by following Misty's glance, Ash turned for the first time to Oak's associate. The girl largely obscured her features with a drab green traveler's cloak. Caked in mud and covering her from neck to boot, the cloak made discerning much more than the visitor's facial features impossible. Of course this seemed a moot point to Ash, who found eye contact, once established with the stranger, impossible to sever. For a length of time Ash couldn't judge, he and the newcomer stared at each other, both equally entranced and dumbfounded by the other. Ash couldn't place it, but he _knew_ this girl from somewhere. Of that he was absolutely certain, and he judged by the look she mirrored to him that she knew him also.

"Oh," said Oak, snapping both Ash and the unintroduced visitor out of their joint stupor. "That was rude of me not to introduce the both of you. Ash," he turned to his grandson and gestured at the girl in the cloak, "this is Dawn."

The girl nodded to the Professor's grandson. "Nice to meet you," she smiled a little, her blue eyes sparkling like cobalt glass.

SC

The sizzling of bacon and sounds of frying fish filled the small but comfortable kitchen as sunlight streamed in from the eastern window. Rather than a kitchen table, Misty had elected to put a plushly cushioned booth against the wall opposite the stove, leaving most of the floorspace open to allow for Arcanine's frequent naps. The booth was also far more comfortable than a set of chairs, prompting Ash and Misty to both spend most evenings there.

Now however, as Misty set a plate of bacon and a small tray of eggs on coasters on the table sandwiched between the seats, Ash occupied one side of the booth, Misty sitting down beside him, while Dawn and Oak sat opposite them. From his spot in the sun on the floor, Arcanine rolled onto his back and happily absorbed the presence of all the company while Pikachu sat beside him. At Misty's invitation, everyone helped themselves to the plentiful breakfast, Ash brought Oak up to date on his recent activities, learning only after he'd recounted the majority of his stories that Oak had already heard most of the tales from Bill. Throughout the conversation, Ash found himself stealing glances at Dawn and noting that she seemed to be giving him the same clandestine once-overs.

"So you two are..." Oak grinned, more like a teasing sibling than a mentor as he gestured between Ash and Misty. "together then?"

Ash glanced at Misty with a smile she sheepishly returned, then looked back at Oak. "Yep," he responded without hesitation.

Misty sighed a little. How he could be so casual about everything was beyond her. More befuddling still, was how Ash seemed to grow into a more confident yet humble individual every day. Nothing fazed him she thought, and if it did, he hid it well. She quickly put the puzzle out of her head though. His quiet confidence was, after all, one of the things that she admired most about him.

"Best wishes then," said Oak. "And this," he fiddled with the thermal imager Ash had given him to examine before setting it next to the radio headset on the table. "This is fascinating," he said. "I see you inherited some of my talent for inventing after all."

Ash nodded. "It's basically a camera that happens to see infrared, rather than regular light. I was experimenting with using different methods to try to see through walls and got this," he laughed. "So that research was almost a success. And the radios are basically just variations on the bigger radios people keep in their houses. I just made them smaller."

"That just goes to demonstrate your ingenuity," said Oak. "Dawn's quite the inventor also," he nodded to the girl beside him. "She and Professor Rowan from Sinnoh do all kinds of interesting projects."

"You mentioned," Ash prompted, "that you went north to visit Sinnoh. You were gone for a year, grandpa. Care to tell us about that."

"Ah," said Oak, sitting back from the table and crossing his arms. "I did say I'd explain, and now that we've all eaten I suppose it's as good a time as any."

Ash and Misty both leaned back in the cushions and relaxed, settling in for what both assumed was going to be a potentially lengthy explanation. Ash subtly reached over and, without being too blatant about it, took Misty's hand. Much to his relief, she quickly twined their fingers and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"Right after Pallet was destroyed," Oak began, "I debated exactly what I should do, but decided to visit Bill and hopefully reconnect with you there. Before I could reach Cerulean though I received word from an old friend of mine, Rowan, that he was having trouble up north. His message was brief and vague, but requested my help immediately so I changed course and traveled to Sinnoh to meet with him. I wanted to see about helping him as quickly as I could since I knew he wouldn't go to the trouble of getting in contact with me unless it was urgent, and I trusted that you were more than capable of taking care of yourself," Oak smiled at his grandson.

"When I got to Rowan's lab," Oak went on, "he told me that recently he'd discovered that some murders and disappearances throughout Sinnoh might be linked to a group of people calling themselves Team Galactica. The trouble was that Rowan, despite being something of a crusader, couldn't turn up any evidence that Galactica was involved in any criminal activity, but as soon as he began investigating them a series of 'accidents' just about killed him. More than once, people attacked his lab and tried to 'shut him up,' as he put it, which convinced my old friend that he was on the right course by looking at Galactica."

"So you decided to get involved?" Ash prodded. "And I assume you learned something important?"

"It would be a boring story if I didn't," Oak grinned. "Over the course of a few days, Rowan convinced me that the circumstances were just too outlandish but when a group of trainers attacked the lab while Dawn, Rowan, and I were there I decided to help him look into it. One of the assassins or robbers or whatever you call them who attacked the lab survived, but refused to talk. Weeks after we turned him over to the police however, the lab was attacked _again_ and that same assassin was part of the effort. Rowan came up with the idea to turn him over to the police again, feigning that we didn't remember him, and track his movements from there,

"It turns out that it was a good plan. We uncovered not only a link between the local police and the assassin, but Dawn and I followed the assassin back to his lair and learned that he personally was somehow involved with Galactica. Not how exactly, only that he was, and that we couldn't trust the police. The three of us managed to trace the connection to a front company in Veilstone City. By the time we learned this of course," the Professor shrugged, "and got to their hidden base, whoever ran the base and aided the criminals, Galactica we presumed, was on to us and had cleared out... They did however, in their haste leave behind some interesting technology."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What kind of technology?" he asked.

Dawn cleared her throat and spoke up. "To be honest, we don't know," she said as Oak let her have the floor. "Which for me is really saying something. I'm a genius with Pokemon and electronics alike, but some of what we dragged out of this base was beyond even me."

_I guess she doesn't lack for confidence,_ Ash thought. "Don't be too specific now," he said nonchalantly.

Dawn focused on Ash and glared at the perceived insult. "Fine," she said, "for one, we found a fusion reactor... a _working_ fusion reactor the size of this booth, which should be impossible if you didn't already know that."

"A what?" Ash and Misty responded at once.

Dawn shook her head a little. "Just believe me when I say that the tech we dragged out of that base is way ahead of our time."

"You'll have to forgive Dawn," said Oak, "she still resents Rowan sending her with me to find you."

"Professor Rowan needs my protection more than ever right now," Dawn added. "Even if the attacks have stopped, he needs to be on guard for if- when they come back."

"Anyway," Oak went on, "a little more digging turned up evidence that Galactica was undertaking some kind of massive project in the mountains that run down Sinnoh's spine, but I'm afraid that's where the trail ended..."

"What?" Ash asked. "What do you mean, ended?"

"It went cold, died off," said Oak. "When I went to have a look, I found that there was indeed lots of construction going on atop Mount Coronet, but nothing illegal. They were using private contractors to build some kind of massive foundation and the framework of a mammoth tower on the very summit of the mountain. While that's weird, it isn't murder or kidnapping. Since I saw that, the investigation hadn't turned up anything new and there haven't been attacks on the lab, so we didn't have anything to go on."

"And?" the young trainer pressed. "That's all you could find out?"

Oak shrugged. "We never connected Galactica directly to anything blatantly illegal. Sure they're suspicious and have access to technology that shouldn't exist, but there's no evidence to support the theory that they're criminals. And since the attacks on Rowan's labs have stopped-"

"For now," Dawn interrupted.

"It seems like my job up there was done."

Turning to Oak, Ash shifted a little and said, "I guess I was hoping for something a little more dramatic.

"Not everything bad people do makes sense or is a giant conspiracy to destroy the world," chuckled Oak. "I figure that Rowan isn't a target anymore since whoever was trying to kill him has decided that attacking him is more trouble than it's worth. And you wanted to know what I've been up to so there you have it."

Ash paused and exhaled, stroking Misty's hand with his thumb."So, not that I'm not glad to see you grandpa, really I am, but what does all this have to do with Misty and me?"

Oak smiled a little. "Well on top of visiting my favorite grandson," he said, "I have a present for you."

Ash cocked his head off to one side, mimicking Arcanine's 'curious look'. "What would that be?"

Oak smirked and reached into the small backpack sitting between his feet. Pulling out a small and unassuming wood box only slightly larger than Ash's thermal imager, he flipped a latch and opened the lid. Spinning it towards Ash the Professor sat back, practically glowing with pride. "As promised."

Ash and Misty both looked at the small orbs resting in the velvet padding. Both were smaller than an average pokeball and displayed different colors. The bottom of each orb sparkled a silvery off-white, and the majority of each upper hemisphere shone a deep purple. Also different from the usually smooth texture of a pokeball, these devices each sported two additional raised domes on their upper halves that glowed a dull purple. Also, a white "M" on each sphere, traced in raised white lacquer reflected the morning sunlight in a shimmering glow.

"I had completely forgotten," said Ash, reaching out and picking up one of the Master Balls.

"I thought there were going to be six," said Misty. "Not to ruin the moment, but..."

Oak grimaced. "Initially yes. But I was trying to make them while I was in Sinnoh and I... well frankly I ruined three of the Ultra Balls in the attempt... so I'm left with one for my grandson, one for you," he nodded to misty, "to try and keep up my end of the bargain, and one for myself."

"And these will catch anything," Misty said, picking up the second Master Ball and looking it over.

"Yes," Oak nodded. "I wanted to give you both the best gift I could think of before you continue on your journey to stop Team Rocket, and this is it."

"Bill mentioned that did he?" Ash asked.

"That he did," said the Professor.

"Alright," Ash looked up with a grin. He glanced over at Misty and then turned back to Oak. "I was beginning to feel a little cooped up here anyway," he said. "I'm just about ready to start traveling again, don't you think?"

Oak nodded but Misty flinched.

"I think you've stayed in one place quite long enough," said the Professor. "I'm going back to Pallet to begin rebuilding my laboratory, underground this time, so I can best help everybody, and you should probably get back to collecting recommendations from the other Gym Leaders."

"Right now?" Misty interrupted, putting her hand on Ash's arm and turning to him. "Isn't this a little sudden?"

Ash shook his head. "Well not _right_ now," he said, putting his hand on her leg. "But fairly soon. I think you and I have done just about everything here that only we could do. We helped establish a council, took several big steps toward bringing order back to the region, and booted Team Rocket completely out of Vermilion," he grinned. "From this point on I estimate that the only work left is maintaining the status quo that we set up."

Misty's face fell but she nodded. "Right," she said. "You're right. We've been doing too little for too long."

"I wouldn't say that," said Oak. "You've been doing a lot to keep valuable resources out of Team Rocket's hands, but now it's time for you to take a more active role again and leave the sedentary work to others."

Ash put his hands together and nodded. "Baily's the man to run the Gym while we're gone. He's ready to take over, regardless of whether he knows it, and he doesn't like Rocket anymore than we do so we can count on him to keep them out. I'll tell him this afternoon and inform the city council after that."

Misty sighed again but refused to let her spirits slip too low. "That sounds good. When do you think we'll set out?"

Ash took a second and thought. "Probably not before next week," he said. "So four or five days maybe?"

"Oh," said Misty, her eyes brightening some. "I thought you meant, like, tomorrow."

Ash shook his head. "A few days will give me time to get things squared away, and that way we won't be just abandoning the town." He looked back at Oak and Dawn. "Will you two at least do us the honor of sticking around for a day or two?"

Oak smiled while a look of horror washed over Dawn's face, though it was the Professor who spoke first. "I think we can manage that."

"Professor," Dawn hissed. "The sooner we head towards Pallet, the sooner I can head back to Rowan and tell him you're safe, then start protecting him again. I can't just stay here for a day _or two_."

Ash's eyes flitted towards Dawn, and the young trainer's mind turned for a second. As much as he wanted to disagree with her and argue for his grandfather to stay for a visit, Dawn's argument made sense. So, Ash spoke up before Oak could comment. "Actually grandpa," said the trainer, "I think she's got a point. If Rowan is still in any kind of trouble it would probably be best if she got back to him as soon as possible."

"I'm not a child," the professor half scoffed, half laughed. "I don't need someone to escort me through the wilds and see to my safety. Dawn," he said kindly, turning to the girl. "I know you promised Rowan you'd see me safely home, but honestly, if you're that worried about him, then by all means, start back and give him my best when you get there."

The girl in the muddy cloak nodded and crossed her arms. "You don't need to tell me twice," she said. "If it's alright with you I'll leave in the morning."

SC

Filling the room with the sot buzz that accompanied the light, the florescent lights Ash had installed throughout his small workshop provided more than enough illumination for the Gym Leader to sort through his things. Picking his way about, sometimes rediscovering little knickknacks he had built months ago and forgotten about, Ash tried to pick out the items he thought would be most valuable in his upcoming return to his travels.

"I've got to admit," sitting on a small stool at Ash's workbench, Oak looked over at his grandson, "I expected to come back and find that you'd done something amazing, but even so you really surprised me. A Gym Leader, an inventor, and the effective leader of a town... I'm impressed."

Ash grinned to himself and pulled up a seat by his grandfather. He glanced out the skylights, wishing that he could see through the haze of the city lights and his workshop's illumination that obscured the stars from him. It was nearly midnight and his favorite constellation would be overhead soon. "I did what I could," said Ash, shrugging. "For the town, for myself, for Misty... I just wanted to make things better here." He smiled a little. "And I think I've done a fair job so far, but there are bigger things to move on to."

"That there are," Oak nodded.

"I've been feeling it for a while," Ash said. "That I should get back out there and take on the world. I've been fighting Team Rocket here as best I can, in my own way, but I've been itching to really take the fight to them. I want to hurry up and finish this trip to all the gyms so I can get into Malebolge and find out what's at the bottom of that cave. Then I'll know what Team Rocket wants, and what I can do to put a stop to them."

"And work on the Pokedex," Oak added.

"There's that too," Ash admitted. "I'll do what I can along the way, but the Pokedex is something that I'll never be able to completely finish. I want to finish the work I can before moving on to the work that will always be there."

"I understand that completely," said the Professor, before the conversation slipped into silence.

The two trainers glanced around the workshop, both knowing the other had something to say, but unsure of how to open up. Eventually Ash broke the silence. "Grandpa," he said plainly. "There's something about Dawn. I can't place it, but I know her from somewhere... Did I meet her at your lab when I was little or something? It was bugging me all day."

Oak smiled and shook his head, turning to Ash and leaning on the bench. "No, you've never met Rowan or Dawn before, at least not that I know of. But you felt it, didn't you?"

"What? Felt what?"

"Ash," the Professor sighed. "I talked with Bill before I came here, and he told me about everything he told you. I nearly killed him for it, but in the end I had to admit he was right about your knowing being a good thing."

"About being a savant?" Ash asked.

"Exactly," his grandfather nodded. "You're quick. But I know he told you and I decided to run a little experiment of my own. Have you guessed the outcome yet, or even what it is?"

Ash paused for a moment and thought. "Dawn's a savant too," he said matter-of-factly.

"Clever boy," Oak answered. "I knew there was a good dose of your mother in you. Yes, Dawn is a savant also, which between you and her makes two in one generation. I brought her here mostly because I

* * *

wanted to see what happened if I put two in the same room."

"And what did you discover?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," said Oak. "But the experiment is only just beginning. Ash, as far as I know, savants are rare anomalies, one every few generations. Now all of a sudden there are two that the other Professor's and I know of and there might be more out there."

"And where do you see this going?" Ash asked. "This little peek at what might be evolution in the works..."

"No idea," Oak said merrily. "But then again, science is all about discovering the unknown. I've been watching both you and Dawn separately as close as I can and the similarities between the two of you are remarkable. Ash, you wouldn't have had the chance to find out, but Dawn is a mirror image of you as far as her abilities go. She's spent a little less time training with Pokemon than she has working with technology, but working with both is as natural to her as breathing, same as you."

"Well," Ash chuckled a little to himself, "I'll trust you on that."

"And both of you immediately sensed something innately different from everyone else in the other, it's fascinating."

"Grandpa," said Ash goodheartedly. "This is really cool and all, but I fail to see how it's relevant to taking down Team Rocket."

"It's science," said the Professor, sounding, Ash noticed, a lot like Bill. "It doesn't have to be relevant right now. As soon as I figure out how it works I'll come up with a practical application then."

* * *

AN: Before anyone says it, I know it's supposed to be "Team Galactic." But really... really? I couldn't take it seriously so I'm changing it to Galactica, which just sounds cooler. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Shouting out to Blazevoir who dropped possibly the most in-depth review I've ever received. Also, thanks to everyone in general. Vorago, Syrus, and others, the input is both appreciated and useful.

Peace!

PS: A problem has been solved... rather than continue to complain about the morning shift at work sapping all my energy before I can write, I've decided to write AT work. If management doesn't like it, then I've got two words for them and they won't like either one.

PPS: I've recently learned that, all kudos due to everyone here, _The Sun Soul_ now has its own page on tvtropes. Thanks for the small victory, and special mention to everyone who contributed/contributes to said article. I hope you all have enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing.

* * *

Chapter 16 – Something of a Sanguine Hue

The room smelled distinctly of lavender, though the faint aroma of various fruits also hung in the air. Waning light from the moon fell silently across Misty's back, glimmering across both the fading scars and the beads of sweat that dripped down her frame as she knelt, straddling Ash. Laying on his back, panting, hands on Misty's hips the Gym Leader sucked in one breath after another and, mirroring his partner, trembled. Letting go of the big headboard, Misty bent down and kissed Ash, moaning contentedly even before his hands traced up her back to grip her hair and hold her against him.

"I've been thinking," Misty whispered, slowly letting herself down next to Ash, still draping one leg over his thighs.

"Hm," the Gym Leader responded, rolling his head to one side to look at her.

Misty grinned playfully as Ash felt up her leg, and squirmed as he played with her. "Why don't we just forget about Team Rocket, the Pokedex, and all of these," she paused and looked for a word, trying to think through the pleasant haze in her head, "distractions. We could go away together to Johto or somewhere a long way off and focus on more important things."

Ash grinned. "I'd thought about something like that," he admitted. "Wouldn't it be something if we could just pack our things, leave, and never look back."

Misty settled into him, snuggling herself between the damp covers and Ash's frame, feeling the heat rolling off him. "I'd like that," she went on. "I'd like that a lot. Say the word and we can be gone before sunrise, just us."

"As tempting as that might be," said Ash, "don't you think we'd eventually regret leaving everything here completely unfinished?"

"I'm not thinking about that now," said Misty with a wry grin. "But yes and no, given the right distractions," she let the word hang in the air as she drew her finger across his chest in little patterns, "I think I could cope with the guilt."

Ash smiled again and quickly rolled on top of her, grabbing her wrists and playfully pinning Misty to the bed. "Well, I'm afraid I'm going to require a lot more distracting if I'm going to just forget about everything I've been working towards here."

"Tisk, now what am I going to have to do to _distract_ you long enough to lure you away? Or will I have to resort to bribery?" She raised a leg to rub him with her calf.

"I'm sure we can work something out," he said.

SC

"Well, it's been fun," said Ash, reaching out towards Dawn to give her hand a shake.

The girl left her arms folded across her chest and turned to Oak. "If you're sure you don't want me to stay," she said. "I wouldn't want Professor Rowan to think I just abandoned you."

Ash shook his head some, dropping his hands into his pockets. The thinly veiled venom in Dawn's tone stung his ears. _What is her problem?_ he wondered.

"I'll be fine," said Oak, either missing or ignoring the tone in which she spoke to him. "Give Rowan my best and be safe."

"Hm," the other trainer acknowledged, reaching to her belt and taking a pokeball. Snapping it open and flooding the courtyard with white light, on top of the already brilliant morning sunlight, Dawn stepped up the the coalescing form of a large winged Pokemon.

Ash didn't recognize the bird, but quickly took note of its rounded body, sparkling blue feathers, and ostensibly stubby wings. The haughty look on the Pokemon's face, he thought, matched its trainer perfectly. "If you ever have any more trouble," said Ash, "tell the professor to feel free to ask for help."

"I'll pass that along," said Dawn, swinging one leg up and over the bird's back, planting herself in the saddle. The blue haired trainer fastened some straps around her legs and tapped her Pokemon's sides with her heels. Without another word the pair leapt into the air where the bird's wings snapped open and heaved, carrying both Pokemon and trainer skywards.

Oak folded his arms across his chest and sighed once Dawn passed beyond earshot. "I hope she didn't prove too... abrasive," he said. "Dawn's not really a bad person. She's just so focused on her job that she can come across as cold."

"Icy," Ash corrected, pursing one side of his mouth into a grimace. "No offense, but even when she isn't talking it's hard to put up with her."

"Don't be impolite," Oak said. "She's younger than you and hasn't exactly had it easy. Where's Misty anyway?" the professor changed topics. "I haven't seen her yet this morning."

"Went back to bed," Ash's frown twisted into a clandestine smirk as he watched Dawn fly farther and farther north. "She woke up sore."

"I see," said the professor. "Well, I'm glad the two of you are getting along so well. I had a good feeling about it all when you two first showed up together in Pallet... despite the Gyarados. You know when I was your age I knew this girl named A-"

"What are those?" Ash interrupted, dropping his hands at his sides and staring intently up at the sky.

Oak followed his grandson's level gaze and squinted. "What are what?" he asked.

"Those," Ash pointed towards two specks as they appeared out of the rising sun and angled their paths towards the north. "They're moving straight at Dawn," he added, his stare intensifying as the rapidly advancing little dots took on definition and picked up speed. He watched with growing anxiety as the flying Pokemon neared Dawn and the young trainer veered to one side to avoid the attack as her pursuers swooped by. Ash cursed and grabbed a pokeball.

"Grandpa, something's wrong." He threw out the pokeball and released Pidgeot in a flash of white light. No sooner had the bird formed out of the energy than was Ash on her back. Pidgeot, surprised but exceedingly well trained, squawked and took off without hesitation as Ash tapped her sides with his heels. "Tell Baily to put the Gym on alert," Ash shouted back, simultaneously reaching down to strap his legs into the saddle as he directed Pidgeot with a gesture.

Oak nodded and turned for the gym, impressed by his grandson's initiative, and kicking himself for leaving his Pokemon in his room.

Feeling Pidgeot's excitement buzzing in the air around him, Ash finished buckling himself to his seat and reached for his other pokeball. Suddenly he was very sorry he'd left Pikachu to sleep in with Arcanine. No matter, he thought, grabbing Charizard's pokeball, holding onto Pidgeot's neck and leaning into the wind as his Pokemon gained both altitude and speed. While he sometimes complained about how difficult it could be to train an obedient mount like his Pidgeot, Ash couldn't deny the amazing speed with which the bird could close great distances. In no time at all he'd moved to within half a kilometer of the areal battle breaking out between Dawn and her two pursuers.

Quickly scanning the scene, Ash recognized both assailants as Golbats, each carrying a rider in a hooded cloak. The leathery Pokemon were taking turns flying over Dawn and diving at her to keep the trainer off balance, making them nearly oblivious to Ash as he, with a few heavy strokes of Pidgeot's wings, climbed over everyone else. Guiding Pidgeot with his knees and touches on her neck, Ash angled his Pokemon down at the Golbat setting up for a dive at Dawn, and sucked in his breath. After one mighty heave, Pidgeot tucked her wings and shot down towards the enemy trainer and Pokemon at an extreme angle. Closing the distance in an instant, Ash cued his Pokemon, ducked, and let Pidgeot take over.

The screeching bird tumbled in midair, opening its talons and crashing down on top of the bat like a meteor, only opening its wings after both Pokemon had lurched towards the ground from the impact. Ash felt himself slam into the saddle, but recovered and threw out Charizard's pokeball, trying to see if Pidgeot had dispatched the trainer or simply wounded the Golbat mount. Spinning downwards, leathery wings flailing around him, white energy flashing to his left, Ash couldn't tell what exactly what was going on, but guessed that Pidgeot's attack had broken their enemy's mount at the very least.

"Disengage!" he shouted, fighting vertigo as they toppled. He felt the pokeball snap closed in his hand and heard Charizard roar and catch itself in flight. He felt Pidgeot tear its talons out of the Golbat's back and push free, pumping its wings to steady itself and regain control. Ash glanced downward, noting that the Golbat was clearly disabled and its screaming trainer was plummeting towards the ground more than a thousand feet below. He grimaced and looked away.

Charizard passed over Ash, prompting the trainer to look up and check on Dawn. He'd hoped that taking out one of her attackers would buy her time to fight back, but bit his lip in dismay. The surviving opponent had reached for more pokeballs and loosed a veritable swarm of Zubat and Beedrill. Ash counted no less than three of each, but accurately enumerating the flitting Pokemon as they dove and weaved at Charizard proved impossible. He only hoped that Charizard's prowess would be enough to make up for the enemy's numbers.

"Flame Wheel!" Ash barked, simultaneously prompting Pidgeot to soar higher and angle for a position over the opposing Pokemon. The young Gym Leader, yelping in pain as a Zubat latched onto his exposed wrist, watched as the large Golbat unleashed a scream that visibly undulated the air and crashed into Dawn and her mount.

"Swellow!" Ash heard Dawn shout as her Pokemon shook violently under the blow and began to fall.

Ash swore under his breath and Pidgeot banked hard. Ripping the Zubat from his arm, Ash instinctively gripped at his mount's neck, his weight straining against the restraints holding him in the saddle as Pidgeot tore out of the way of the Golbat's next charge attack. He reached into his coat and clutched at another pokeball, throwing it open and shielding his eyes from the flash. In an instant a hovering Butterfree and opened its wings to catch itself. "Whirlwind!" Ash ordered, pointing at his Butterfree and motioning to the Golbat.

As the insectoid Pokemon threw open its wings hard enough to propel itself harshly backwards and buffet the Golbat with air, Ash and Pidgeot banked towards Dawn and her faltering Swellow. The blue flier looked dazed and confused, flapping erratically. As they neared, Ash looked back up at Charizard who, with amazing alacrity, cut the swarm of Beedrill and Zubat to ribbons, and turned on the dazed Golbat before the Pokemon and its trainer could regain their balance.

_At least something's going well,_ Ash thought. As soon as Pidgeot came within reach of Dawn and Swellow, the horribly stressed and confused Pokemon lashed out at Pidgeot, slammed Ash with its wing, and abandoned its attempt to remain aloft. Plummeting like a stone and taking Dawn with it, the Swellow went limp in the air and passed out.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the throbbing in his head, Ash pointed and Pidgeot tucked her wings and dove like a falcon. A split second later they'd reached the unconscious Swellow, and Ash had wrapped his arm around Dawn. Ignoring her screaming, he tugged at the restraints around her legs to no avail. Pidgeot got one set of talons into the Swellow and heaved hard, fighting to slow the free fall. The conscious flier, while more massive by far than the azure animal, couldn't lift two people and an unconscious Pokemon.

Ash looked down, gasping at just how quickly the ground seemed to be racing up to greet them, and reached inside his coat again to draw out a long, thin knife. "Don't move!" he shouted at Dawn, working as nimbly as he could to slide the blade under the saddle's straps. With a grunt Ash pulled the blade downwards, knowing that to sever the leather straps he'd have to risk lacerating Dawn also, and despite her thick long coat, Dawn cried out and clutched at her thigh. The strap cut though.

Looking at the ground, Ash heaved at Dawn again, this time pulling the girl loose of her saddle. Pidgeot's wings burst open and clawed furiously at the air as Swellow dropped away like a lead weight. Dawn screamed again as Pidgeot hurled itself skyward, inertia threatening to rip her from Ash's grip. The man in the saddle lashed out with his free hand, dropping the knife as though it had burst into flame, and clutched at Dawn. Pidgeot screeched with effort and shot to the side, regaining her balance the instant before Dawn's feet brushed the tops of the trees in the forest below.

"Hold on," Ash ordered as he pulled her into the saddle behind him.

Dawn did just that, wrapping her arms so tightly around Ash's chest that the trainer could barely breathe. Not missing a beat, Ash turned his gaze skyward, watching as Charizard and Butterfree contended with the Golbat. Ash grinned to himself. Misty had thought a Pokemon like Butterfree would be useless in a stand-up fight, but Ash saw the Pokemon's potential as more than a brawler. As a laden Pidgeot carried herself higher, Ash sighed in relief. Charizard alone might have proved to be more than a match for the Golbat, and with Butterfree distracting it, the enemy quickly found itself completely outmaneuvered.

Charizard gained altitude over the Golbat and dove. Not bothering to use a fiery attack, the dragon opened its claws and tore the trainer clean out of his saddle. Or, Ash saw, Charizard tore at least the trainer's top half from the saddle. As the dragon proceeded to reduce the cadaver in its jaws to a crimson mess, the Golbat, still transporting two legs tied to its saddle, dodged Butterfree and flew directly through a cloud of yellow spores in the insect's wake. Immediately the leathery Pokemon went rigid and dropped. Ash watched with a small measure of satisfaction as the Golbat crashed into the trees below.

"That's that," said Pidgeot's trainer. He turned to Dawn. "You alright?"

The girl nodded into his shoulder, neither saying a word or opening her eyes.

"Looks like you'll be staying in Vermilion a little longer," he added, another note of satisfaction in his tone and again, Dawn only nodded and clung to him.

For a brief moment, Ash considered landing to look for the remains of the trainer who had presumably fallen to his death. His paranoia didn't want someone else getting to the body first. Then he remembered that he had likely badly cut Dawn to get her loose of her Pokemon. He weighed his options. Vermilion was close enough, he decided, turning back towards the south and flying over the city. Descending in wide circles, Pidgeot landed in the Gym's courtyard to an armed greeting.

Baily had quickly marshaled the guards and posted them in their usual positions around the premises. Baily himself walked forward from the Gym's entrance and adjusted his hardhat as Ash got himself out of the saddle and helped Dawn down. Charizard set down next to Pidgeot, and Butterfree lighted on Ash's shoulder as he held Dawn steady. The cool mist the insect's wings began to emit filled Ash's lungs with the refreshing scent of rain and cleared the haze of adrenaline from his mind.

Oak and Misty, Pikachu in tow, came running. Misty in her hastily donned armor and Oak in his lab coat reached them in a hurry. "What happened?" asked the professor, looking at Dawn and kneeling down to inspect her leg having immediately spotted the crimson stain overtaking her coat.

Baily cleared his throat, his Magnemite hovering protectively behind him while a Voltorb rolled beside him. "Are there more for us to worry about?"

Ash first addressed Oak, telling him to get Dawn to the infirmary. "Jacob!" he called out to one of the guards who was at Ash's side in a heartbeat. "Show the professor the way."

The guard nodded and motioned for Oak to follow him.

"I don't know," Ash answered Baily. "I'll be back but keep us on alert and post guards at the Pokemon Center and Town Hall."

"Done and done," Baily answered.

"Ready to move?" Ash turned to Misty, holding out his arm for Pikachu.

Misty tossed Ash Arcanine's pokeball and a headset radio. Ash caught both and managed to snatch a chittering Pikachu in the crook of his arm. "Always," Misty answered.

Pikachu looked up at Ash, eyes narrowed as if to chastise the trainer for leaving him behind, then stood up in Ash's arm and batted the Gym Leader on the nose with one paw.

"I know," Ash admitted to the yellow rodent, his nose stinging. "I'll take you with me next time."

"Where to?" asked Misty, releasing Vaporeon from its pokeball and stepping up beside Ash.

Ash nodded over his shoulder towards the north. "There were two fliers chasing Dawn," he said. "I killed one's mount and the trainer fell well over a thousand feet... more than enough to kill him and, hopefully, leave anything he was carrying more or less intact."

"Right," said Misty as Ash returned Pidgeot and Butterfree to their pokeballs, simultaneously releasing Arcanine from his. "What do you want to bet they were working for Team Rocket..."

Ash ran his hand through Arcanine's flowing mane and hopped up onto the Pokemon's back. Arcanine yipped happily and pawed at the ground, turning his head to lick his trainer's hand. "Good to see you too," Ash responded, silently reaching out with his mind and locating Haunter immediately. The ghost had, it explained, decided upon Ash's flying off without a warning to scan the city blocks surrounding the gym for any trouble. It was the right decision too, Haunter crowed in Ash's head, floating invisibly up beside him, as the specter had found two of the gym's guards asleep at their posts.

Thanking Haunter for the information, and instructing it to stay behind and keep an eye on Baily as far as it was able, Ash offered his hand to Misty. As the girl climbed behind Ash on Arcanine's back, Ash again briefly toyed with the idea of _finally _telling Misty about his ghostly companion.

_Maybe later,_ he quickly concluded. _After all, I haven't really caught Haunter just yet._

SC

Fortunately, human bodies are normally quite warm compared to their surroundings and they tend to cool slowly, making them show up on Ash's thermal imager in fine detail. Ash, trekking through the woods beside Misty and scanning the surrounding terrain without the aid of his invention, slipped the device back into his pack as Misty took out a pair of binoculars. Flanked by Arcanine on one side, and Vaporeon and Blastoise on the other, Ash felt secure enough to stand upright and take a deep breath. Despite the heavy escort however, the young trainer couldn't shake the notion that something about the situation felt off.

"Have a look," said Misty, handing her partner the binoculars. "Looks like the fall definitely killed her."

Ash looked downrange through the lenses and found the body. The trainer lay sprawled out on the ground, perfectly still beside the dead Golbat. Her cloak concealed most of her features, with the exception of her dirty red hair and her exposed leg still draped over the mount. "I expected it would," Ash answered, crossing his arms. "Let's go have a look."

Arcanine bumped his trainer with the side of his massive head, prompting everyone to pause and wait as the canine sniffed the air. Arcanine looked off towards the east for a moment, staring intently into the waist-high brush, before sneezing and making both Ash and Misty jump. When the Pokemon turned his attention back on the body, Ash and Misty both proceeded. Pikachu sat vigilantly on Ash's shoulder while Vaporeon strutted like a ghost beside Misty and Blastoise lumbered on as usual.

"I wonder what made them go after Dawn," Ash stated, walking with Pikachu up to the body and leaving Misty a few paces behind with the other Pokemon. "The two of them were far too well coordinated for raiders... and if they were both trained for this kind of thing-" He pulled the cloak away from the trainer's frame and yelped in surprise.

A face full of malice smiled up at him from the ground, teeth bared in a blood-freezing leer. Even after months, Ash recognized the features. "Surprise!" Jesse yelled, lunging up at Ash and driving the knife in her hand into his side, wrenching it out and laughing with glee as Ash stumbled backwards.

"Ash!" Misty screamed as her partner clutched at his quickly reddening shirt. She thrust a finger at Jesse, seeing crimson. "Kill that fucking bi-"she stopped as a flash of movement caught her eye. Turning to the side, a huge purple blur appeared beside her, shrieking with a deafening battle-cry.

The cold-blooded Arbok whipped Misty with its tail and slammed her against a tree, the force of the blow filling the air with a crack as Misty's armor caved in around her to absorb the impacts. The trainer gasped as the Arbok, whirling with unbelievable speed, turned on the clustered Pokemon and lashed out at Blastoise. The hulking tortoise shifted to absorb the tackle, but Arbok changed course in mid strike, opened its jaws into a horrific fissure, and snapped them closed around Blastoise's neck. The heavy Pokemon couldn't even thrash before Arbok tore its fangs free, leaving punctures like knife wounds that spat a reeking black puss.

Vaporeon spun, swiping its scythe-like tail along the length of Arbok's midsection and opening the serpent's hide to the air. Arcanine's jaws opened as it's throat glowed a brilliant white. Weathering a torrent of flame that roared off its protective hood like water against a rock, Arbok hissed as if to laugh at their efforts. Despite the bleeding injury in its side, the ophedian Pokemon slapped it's tail at Vaporeon, an attack the nimble blue creature dodged, and snapped down at Arcanine.

Pikachu's cheeks lit up like the sun and a bolt of electricity blasted towards Jesse. The trainer, already halfway through the motion, leapt behind the fallen Golbat as the arc tore into and seared black the leathery corpse. Ash's legs buckled and he dropped to his knees, then to one elbow as his body threatened to fall into shock. The trainer's mind raced as he listened to the battle behind him and heard also the 'plip plip plip' of blood dripping from the hole in his ribcage. Air seemed to refuse entry into his lungs, and the trainer suddenly realized the dire straits into which he'd stumbled.

"Oh..." he muttered, spotting the dead body propped up against a tree several paces off from the Golbat. The shattered corpse lulled to one side, naked and hastily concealed by brush. Ash realized it had only been bad luck, or good planning, that had placed the tree between his thermal imager and the body, facilitating the ambush.

Pushing herself against a tree to get to her feet, Misty quickly took stock of the battlefield, her heart sinking as the whole scene devolved into utter chaos. Blastoise groaned and dropped in a heap on the ground and Misty moaned a little when she watched it. She reached for her pokeball and threw it at her fallen Pokemon, snatching up the tortoise in a blanket of energy that disappeared into the orb. Immediately thereafter she saw Arcanine and Vaporeon dueling with the huge snake. Her heart sank lower as she realized that the serpent had almost doubled in length since she'd last seen it months ago. Additionally, scales or plates or some strange structures protruded from the snake's form at even intervals like purple armor grafted to Arbok's skin provided the creature a solid defense against both Vaporeon and Arcanine. The serpent's hood, likewise upgraded, proved a match for any attacks Arcanine launched from behind Immediately Misty's mind flashed back to Mount Moon and the horribly twisted Pokemon they'd fought there.

Jesse ducked out from behind the charred Golbat, only long enough to fling the knife at Ash, and miss his chest by a hairsbreadth as Pikachu again tried to fry her. The knife still cut into Ash's raised arm, dropping him. Giggling madly the fiery haired trainer whistled a piercing note and took a long stride into the trees, her black garb trailing like smoke behind her. Arbok, contending with Arcanine's rending claws and crushing bite, spun in place to throw the massive canine to the ground, and shot off towards its trainer like a bullet.

"Come and catch me," Jesse half shrieked, half laughed. "Come and follow me if you can little girl! Team Rocket will always welcome you home!" She grabbed a handle-like plate on her Pokemon's hood and swung herself onto it's back as Arbok bolted into the trees.

Misty clenched her jaw, contemplating giving chase for only an instant before refocusing all her attention, to the exclusion of all else, on Ash. She and Arcanine arrived at Ash's side at the same time, both vying to take control of the situation, before Arcanine yielded and let his master's mate have charge. Misty leaned in, assessing Ash's condition as the young trainer lay on his back, holding the deep gash in his side. His sweating and trembling only added to Misty's frustration as she peeled back the layered riding clothes, berating herself for not voicing her desire for Ash to wear armor when he flew.

"Hold still," she whispered, her voice trembling as violently as Ash while the wounded trainer struggled to remain lucid. She peered at his exposed wound and sucked in a horrified breath. She looked at the pokeballs on his belt and knew that Ash had one chance. "I hate flying," she whimpered, her mind flashing back to Lavender town and her free fall to what should have been a quick, if painful, death. "Damn it," she hissed grabbing the orbs from his belt and releasing both Charizard and Pidgeot. Turning, she returned Arcanine and Vaporeon to their pokeballs as Pidgeot screeched upon seeing her master's condition.

"You!" she barked at Charizard, instantly gaining the irritable dragon's full attention. "Pick him up, carefully," she emphasized every syllable, "and help me get him back to town."

Charizard huffed, blowing a smoke ring in Misty's direction and watching her indignantly as she turned to mount Pidgeot. Misty froze for a split second, reaching down and grasping a heavy stick knocked loose from a tree during the fight. Reeling around and swinging with all her weight and strength, Misty smashed the bough into the side of Charizard's skull. Catching the dragon completely off guard, knocking him down, and reducing her weapon to splinters, Misty stalked forward brought her face within an inch of the dragon's snarling features.

"Do it," she ordered again, either unaware of, or apathetic towards, Charizard's ability to decapitate her with a flit of his jaw. "Now."

Charizard's black eyes locked on Misty's furious blue ones and held her gaze for a brief instant before Ash's breath wheezed, both from his mouth and the hole in his chest. The dragon snarled, filling the air between his face and Misty's with embers and an acrid smoke, before stepping to Ash and carefully scooping him up in his forearms. Without wasting another second, Misty darted to Pidgeot and slung her leg over the bird as she threw herself into the saddle. The bird looked back at her for a second, expression unreadable, before Misty tapped the mount with her heels as she'd seen Ash do and Pidgeot took off. Charizard likewise crouched, tore into the ground with its hind legs, and carried Ash into the air, trying but failing not to jar him.

As Misty gained altitude, she consciously refused to think about the undeniable truth that she was, despite all her promises to herself over the past year, despite all the times she refused to take Ash up on his offer to teach her to fly, airborne. She also tried to focus on anything but her not being strapped into the saddle. Fortunately, Ash had trained Pidgeot to the point where the mount could quite easily bear a rider with no clue as to how to control a flying creature, and Misty found herself doing next to nothing as Pidgeot led the party towards Vermilion.

As the town neared, Misty immediately knew for certain that something had gone horribly wrong in the half an hour they'd been away. A dark plume of smoke roiled up from the center of the town, from the Gym. Circling down over the gym, unable to completely avoid the smoke rising from both the main building and the leader's residence, Misty and crew set down in the center of the courtyard where men were running around, trying to put out fires where they could. Oak stood off to one side, a Wartortle positioned next to him from where it sprayed a drenching fountain of water through a window to combat the destruction.

"Professor!" Misty shouted, running to Charizard and making sure that Ash's condition hadn't worsened. She nearly choked when she saw how weakly he was breathing. Oak appeared beside her, wholly fixed on Ash.

"What happened? he demanded, blood dripping down his face from a long cut above his brow.

"We were ambushed," Misty responded, steadying herself. "Can we get him to the infirmary?"

"No," said Oak curtly. "The infirmary was the target of the attack." He looked up at Charizard and nodded off towards the third building of the complex, an old storage facility that hadn't seen heavy use for years. "Follow me. The damage to the Gym isn't quite as bad as it looks," he added as Charizard clumsily carried the wounded Gym Leader towards the temporary safe house. "Baily and his guards fended off the attack before they could do too much harm but the infirmary is a loss."

Misty pulled open the plain white door for Oak and Ash as the professor and the Pokemon maneuvered Ash through the opening. "How many were there? What did they want?"

"Five, maybe six," answered Oak. "We caught two, but couldn't get a good look at the others before they retreated, but I think they were after Dawn and myself."

Misty processed that for a second before following Oak. Inside the safe house Baily's men had set up a few beds and cots and rudimentary medical equipment they'd saved from the infirmary. On two of the cots lay Ash's guards. One looked alive but unconscious and the other was either dead or soon would be. Attending the former, having made the inevitable passing of the latter as comfortable as possible, was a young nurse Misty had seen before at the hospital. On two other cots were men Misty had never seen. Their matching black uniforms, strangely void of any identifying marks, were tattered and slashed, exposing both mens' grievous wounds. Misty, guessing they'd participated in the attack, hoped they'd live long enough for her to make use of them.

"Here," Oak helped Ash lay down on a cot, just opposite an unconscious Dawn, and kneeled down to further inspect the wound.

"Inara, get over here" Oak ordered. The young nurse snapped to his side and began assisting the professor in the bloody work of cutting Ash out of his caked clothes. Misty could barely bring herself to watch, but a combination of morbid fascination and and irrational fear that something bad would happen if she looked away kept Misty's attention pinned on Ash. Missing much of the procedures due to her growing mental fatigue, Misty saw that the professor took an adhesive strip of plastic and fixed it tightly over the knife wound. He then grabbed an empty, oddly capped syringe, sterilized the needle, and plunged it into Ash's chest. Ash lurched as the pocket of air collapsing his lung evacuated his chest through the needle, and Oak ordered the nurse to bring him a small platter of sterile supplies from the other side of the room.

Working quickly and muttering about luck, both good and bad, Oak went about stitching, stapling, and binding Ash together from the inside out. Misty watched as Oak moved with surgical precision, her stomach turning so fiercely she had to sit down and put her head in her hands. Ash's quiet groans as he slipped in and out of consciousness while Oak worked without anesthetics nearly drove her to tears and she bit her lip. Something in her gut screamed that this was Team Rocket. She could see that bitch in the forest as she stabbed Ash. The look of elation in the woman's eyes as Ash fell backwards embodied everything that Misty hated about Team Rocket, embodied everything in the world she found so loathsome that the desire to burn it out of the world boiled in her chest like a lake of fire.

Misty clenched her fists by her temples, fighting a wave of hate that rolled over her like a hellish tsunami. She knew Team Rocket was behind everything that made the world such a miserable place to live, and that thought alone pushed her to the brink of screaming. She felt she was sick with hate, that she could die from the excess of it in her and she felt that fury as acutely as the burning in her hands where her nails had begun to dig into her palms. And then something occurred to her... she realized in an epiphany, the source of which eluded her, that her burning hate was a byproduct, a side effect of something completely different.

The loathing she felt towards Team Rocket, and by no small extension herself, came not from her desire for any kind of vengeance or justice to be dealt out against the evil she saw right in front of her face, but rather her desire to protect what was all around her. Brock had been right, she finally admitted to herself as she sat there in a hazy stupor in the safe house. Somewhere along her journey to this point, vengeance dropped out her mind as suddenly as Team Rocket had betrayed her. Taking its place was something she'd once thought to be nothing more than a silly little emotion the weak used as a crutch, but now recognized as the monumental, world-moving force of nature that could light up even the darkest recesses of a cold world.

She loved Ash, Misty finally admitted, quickly thinking that only now was she beginning to understand what that really entailed.

"-alright," the word rang in her head, snapping Misty out of her ruminations. She looked up around with a start and saw Oak standing in front of her. The look on the professor's face was serious, but peaceful, even if his once white coat was splashed with new patches of crimson and brown.

"What?" she asked, shaking her head a little, gradually becoming aware of the salty rivulets that ran down her face and left stinging streaks in their wake. "Sorry, what?" she repeated.

Oak grinned a little. "You've been dead quiet for an hour," he said. "I said Ash is going to be fine."

"Oh thank god," Misty huffed, dropping her head into her hands again.

"We got lucky," Oak went on, "relatively speaking at least. On the flight back Ash must have grabbed that plastic sandwich bag in his coat and pressed it firmly enough over the wound to keep the it from developing into a tension pneumothorax. Combine that with his already robust constitution and my job mostly consisted of putting in a makeshift valve and sewing him back together."

Misty shook her head. She realized he told her all this to put her mind at ease, but Misty had already heard enough. "So he's going to recover?" she asked abruptly.

Oak nodded. "Absolutely. He should make a respectable recovery over the course of a few days, and he could be up and moving around as early as the day after tomorrow. I've also got Joy bringing some specialty steroids from the hospital that should expedite the process. That is, assuming the people we chased off earlier don't come back to finish the job."

Misty promised herself she wouldn't let that happen. Looking at Ash, who now slept more or less peacefully, gave her a profound sense of calm, and she took a deep, steadying breath. She looked over at the forms of the men who'd been left behind by the attackers. "Do we know who they are?"

"No," Oak shook his head. "As soon as I'm done here I'm going to turn them over to Baily to question, but I doubt we'll get anything useful. They're not carrying any kind of identification so they're probably just nameless goons. My gut instinct is that there's a connection to Team Rocket though."

"I understand that," Misty noted, looking towards the window, thankful for the sunlight still streaming in. "And her?" she nodded to Dawn. "What happened after Ash and I left?"

Sitting in the chair beside Misty and resting his elbows on his knees, Oak sighed under the weight of fatigue. "It all happened quickly," he said, staring at the floor. "You and Ash took off and ten minutes later there was a huge explosion at the gym's gate. I think there were five or six of them, but I only saw one clearly, a lean figure with unnaturally blue hair, and he got away. They attacked the guards to give one of them the cover to roll an electrode up to the west wall of the gym and prod the Pokemon into self-destructing. That destroyed the infirmary and took out most of the training room also. When Baily's men recovered from the surprise and the fighting really got intense, the invaders left. Gone."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "They just vanished?"

Again, Oak nodded. "I don't know how they did it, but as soon as the fight started turning against them, this big cloud of black dust came out of nowhere and covered their retreat. While the smokescreen blotted everything out something knocked me upside the head," Oak motioned his thumb at the gash across his forehead, then pointed at the gym guard now laying dead on the cot in the corner, "and ripped Kenneth's insides apart."

Taking a minute to glance over the cadaver's injuries, Misty noted the gross discoloration around the man's eyes, nose, and lips. "Looks like poison," she said.

"I think a Muk or a Wheezing got to him."

"Then I think I know who orchestrated the attack," said Misty. "One of the Team Rocket agents who kept stalking Ash and I through the frontier."

"No proof yet," muttered Oak. "But I think you're right. You and Ash made clear, in no uncertain terms, that you are Team Rocket's enemies. This attack was probably an attempt to take the two of you down before you could gain any more support and become a more serious threat to their plans."

"We don't even know their plans," Musty groaned. "That's half the trouble."

"It doesn't really matter, right now at least, that we don't know what they're after. What counts is that we've obviously hit a sensitive spot and we need to keep it up. Between Ash, Brock, Bill, Kasumi, myself, and you, we've done quite a lot to strip away their resources and their public support. Even if we're just swinging blindly, that's better than nothing right now," Oak said, as much for his own benefit as for Misty's. "Besides," he went on, "we know that Rocket is _still_ trying to get into Cerulean Cave and something is _still_ keeping them out. We know that Malebolge goes straight to the bottom of the cave and that the only way through is to get by the Elite Four and thusly the other Gym Leaders."

"So the best thing we can do," Misty echoed Oak's thoughts from the previous day, "is get back to visiting the gyms... as quickly as possible."

Oak shrugged. "It would all go faster if you agreed to fly."

Cringing, Misty nervously patted her legs. "Great... and here I was getting the feeling that things would start moving faster on their own anyway."

SC

A dry scratching in the back of his throat woke Ash from his tumultuous dreams. He realized before anything else that a biting thirst tore at him and pressed him to sit up. The motion brought with it a stabbing pain in his side and a blast of vertigo, but nothing he couldn't muscle through. Taking a second to look around and coming to grasp how disoriented he really was, Ash tried to get his bearings. He quickly abandoned the prospect of pinpointing his own location as plain white rooms littered with cots and sickbeds weren't particularly unique to one place or another. It didn't help that his head was spinning and on the nightstand beside his bed sat a distracting glass of water.

Reaching over to grab the glass brought a fresh stinging to his arm as something tugged at the crook of his elbow. Ash looked down and saw the needle inserted into a vein and secured with tape had almost come loose with his motion. Muttering in frustration, Ash pulled the tape loose and carefully removed the needle from his arm, pressing his thumb over the pinhole wound as he continued to reach out for the glass of water. The trainer greedily downed the lukewarm drink, sighing afterward and setting the glass back on the stand.

"So you're awake," the voice took a moment to register in Ash's ears as the water revitalized his focus.

Turning about in the bed, Ash traced the source of the familiar voice to the bed beside his. Dawn lay on her back, her forehead and cheek wrapped in bandages. The girl's dark blue hair was pulled back tight and her normally flawless complexion bore numerous small pockmarks and burns.

"What happened to you?" Ash asked, his stomach turning to see her in such poor condition.

"Save the pity, I'm not too bad off," Dawn murmured, her tone both groggy and icy. "Professor Oak says I was in the infirmary when the attack hit. There was a big explosion that wounded a bunch of people."

"What attack?" Ash blurted, trying to keep his voice down for the other sleeping figures in the room.

"Somebody hit the gym while you were gone," said Dawn, turning her head to look at Ash, squinting to see through the dim light afforded only by the moonlight filtering in through the windows. "A couple of people died and several got hurt pretty bad. I heard the nurses talking earlier and if I had to guess I'd say the bad guys our side captured are having a _really_ unpleasant run-in with your Misty and that Baily guy right about now."

Ash groaned and lay back in the bed. _At least Misty's alright_, he thought. "Any idea what time it is?"

"Two in the morning," said Dawn.

"How can you tell?" Ash asked. "And when I can get out of here?"

"The nurses are changing shifts and the new one should be in any minute. They're short-staffed so they only change every four hours. Don't you want to know what happened to you before you go yanking needles and walking around?"

Ash flinched. It hadn't occurred to him that the needle he jerked from his arm might have been important. "I hadn't thought about it," he said, not sure he wanted to remember what circumstances had brought him here.

"Some Team Rocket operative stabbed you," said Dawn without hesitation. "You and Misty walked right into an ambush and it ended with your lung collapsing and you passing out. Lucky for you Oak knew exactly what to do," she smirked haughtily.

Ash put his hand to his side as Dawn's reminder made his side twitch in a phantom pain. Feeling along his ribcage, the Gym Leader realized that there was something knobby, subtle but out of place, under his skin. "What the hell is this?" he asked, trying not to think about the ambush, the memory of which came flooding back into his brain.

"The professor had to stick a valve in your chest to get you back to the land of the living," said the younger savant.

"Great," Ash flopped his arm back on the bed. Knowing the implant was there made it sting. The trainer went quiet, processing everything Dawn had said as he tried to draw meaningful conclusions from the information. Trying to think clearly made his head hurt and brought to the front of his mind the hunger twisting in his stomach. Several long minutes passed by and Ash began to wonder where the nurse had gotten to. He didn't want to take up resources that could be better spent on other people, but he did want something to eat.

"Thanks," Dawn said.

Ash let his head loll to one side so he could look at the other patient. "What?" he said, surprised both to hear her voice again and because he wasn't sure what she'd said.

"You heard me," said Dawn, burning holes in the ceiling with her eyes. "I said thank you, for saving me earlier."

Ash smiled and nodded as best he could. "That's what friends are-"

"Don't read anything into it," Dawn cut him off. "We're not friends." The girl rolled onto her side to turn away from Ash without another word.

Ash lay there for a moment, a little surprised. _What was that all about? _he wondered, shifting to get comfortable and looking passed the foot of his bead to the window. _I guess she's determined to be bitter,_ thought the trainer, grinning a little and closing his eyes.

As he began to drift back to sleep, he felt a familiar tugging at his thoughts. Haunter, it seemed, had realized Ash was awake and come to check on him. The trainer forced himself to remain awake for a minute longer to tell the ghost everything was fine and inquire about the state of the gym. Haunter filled Ash in on a few small details without overloading him on information. Misty and Baily were interrogating prisoners, Oak had set about helping the guards to reorganize and re-secure the perimeter, and Haunter in the meantime had been working furiously to track down the attackers who'd retreated.

Ash felt the ghost's uncharacteristic frustration build as it explained that the invader behind the attack was none other than Ash's old friend, James. The ghost couldn't guess at the Team Rocket agent's motive however, and Haunter only stated that the attack only failed because Oak and Baily proved to be highly competent under pressure. The young trainer nodded, agreeing that his friends were the best, and thanked Haunter for the update. The ghost, invisible to the naked eye, did a back flip and a circle around Ash's bed, giggling suddenly about things becoming 'interesting' again.

SC

Ash's recovery progressed steadily and rapidly. He and Dawn both spent the next day on bed rest, closely looked after by Oak, Misty, Baily, and secretly Haunter. Ash continued to toy with the idea of revealing Haunter's existence to Misty, but kept deciding not to. The day after the attack passed by uneventfully, the most exciting detail being Dawn's and Ash's appetites draining the gym's pantries and leaving the cupboards empty.

The second day saw Ash getting out of bed, despite Oak's cautioning him to take it easy. The young trainer scoffed at the idea of spending another minute laid up. Still eating like a rampaging Snorlax, Ash spent the day reconnecting with his Pokemon and overseeing some of the repairs going on around the gym. Arcanine and Pikachu both punished Ash for his carelessness by staunchly refusing to leave his side and glaring at anyone who dared to come within ten feet of the Gym Leader. When not hovering around Ash, Pidgeot spent most of her time perched with Butterfree atop the gym's balconies to keep watch on the surround. Charizard, refusing to acknowledge any concern for his trainer, dozed lazily and sunned itself in the courtyard, though more than once Ash caught the dragon peeking at him with one eye as if to keep tabs.

Taxing himself, Ash even mustered the energy give a brief interview for a local news reporter, over the course of which he made a conscious effort not to imply in any way that he suspected Team Rocket of the attack. A 'band of poorly organized raiders,' he called them, not wanting to give Team Rocket the advantage of knowing his suspicions. As the day drew to a close, Ash moved the possessions he'd kept around his hospital bed to a guest room in the gym's main building where he and Misty spent the night together.

As the third day since the attack dawned, storm clouds rolling in from the sea brought torrential rains and high winds that drove and reconstruction work inside. His spirits rising higher by the day however, Ash spent the day with Oak and Misty planning their next move. Oak voiced his decision to take Dawn north to Bill's laboratory and get her a mount capable of getting her back to Sinnoh, a plan to which Dawn readily agreed. Ash chimed in that he'd been sending all of the interesting Pokemon he captured around Vermilion to Bill for additional research, so there should be at least a few fliers able to carry Dawn wherever she wanted to go. Additionally Oak agreed to take Misty's Blastoise to Bill and see if there was any way both professors could together get the Pokemon back on its feet. The fight with Arbok had left the tortoise in bad shape, such that the Pokemon Center in Vermilion could barely stabilize him, much less begin any kind of active healing process.

At the same time, Ash and Misty both agreed that while Oak traveled north, they would go south over the bay to Fuchsia. Ash had received word from Brock that Vermilion's southern neighbor had recently undergone some rather Rocket-friendly social changes that the Pewter Gym Leader planned to investigate. Seeing this as not only a good opportunity to investigate Rocket's dealings in Fuchsia, but also to reunite with Brock, Ash convinced Misty to fly over the bay with him. Misty had reluctantly agreed, knowing that she currently lacked a Pokemon capable of ferrying her safely across the water.

Their plans settled after hours of hammering out the details, the trainers and the professor all turned in, knowing that tonight was likely the last time they'd all be together for quite some time. For Oak and Ash it was a fairly bitter proposition, even if Ash and Misty secretly agreed that neither shunned the idea of a vacation from Dawn's icy demeanor.

The storm abated after two days of drenching Vermilion in rain. The left the morning of the fifth day since Rocket's attack on the gym, leaving the whole town in a state of immaculate calm. The sun shone warm and the winds blowing in from the sea carried the refreshing scent of salt. Ash, Oak, Misty, Dawn, Baily, and several of the gym's guards all stood in the courtyard as everyone double-checked their packs and took a last stock of supplies.

"Now don't you go doing anything stupid," said Baily, adjusting his hardhat with one hand and shaking Ash's hand with the other. "Eventually you're going to have to come back and take this damned position back from me. Hear?"

Ash nodded and clapped Baily on the shoulder. "Count on it," he said with a grin. "I'll be back." Turning, the Gym Leader released Pidgeot from her pokeball, giving the massive bird a moment to stretch and preen before helping Misty into the saddle. "Just follow my lead," he said as he secured the straps around Misty's legs, silently celebrating his moot little victory for convincing her to wear jeans.

Misty nodded and picked up the stubby reins. Even having spent the previous day getting Pidgeot used to the idea of carrying someone other than Ash, Misty still felt the mount's scorn for a new rider. "That's the plan."

Ash turned to Oak and gave his grandfather a firm handshake, then a bear hug.

"Good luck," said the professor.

"See you on the other side," responded the trainer. He shifted to Dawn, offered her a handshake, and politely put his hand back in his pocket when she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Snapping open the pokeball, Ash released Charizard in a torrent of white light and stepped up to the hot-headed dragon.

Charizard's glare leveled on Ash as the Pokemon waited for its trainer to test the straps that secured the much-hated saddle to Charizard's midsection. The dragon's nostrils flared and smoked with indignation as Ash pulled himself up onto the Pokemon's back and strapped his legs securely to the hardened leather frame. Ash looked to Pidgeot and nodded to the Pokemon. The bird ruffled out its feathers and cocked its head at Ash, the big crest atop its crown shifting up a little.

"Here we go," Ash whispered, mostly to give warning to the ghost hiding and giggling silently in his pack. The trainer took hold of the saddle's pommels and tapped Charizard with his heels. The dragon's heavy muscles bunched and heaved beneath the saddle, filling Ash with the rush of acceleration as he rocketed skywards. The first pull of the Pokemon's wings made Ash's heart race with the excitement of knowing he'd be touching the clouds in mere moments. Almost forgetting himself, he looked around to check on Misty, grinning to see the combination of thrill and shock, mostly thrill he thought, on her features. Looking even farther back and seeing Dawn and Oak shrinking beneath him, Ash raised one arm and waved, before turning forward and watching the sky race towards him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Chasing Ghosts

Subtlety, in Ash's mind, played very little role in his taking stock of the town of Fuchsia. After several hours on Charizard's back, flying over mile after empty mile of water towards that ever widening strip of land in the distance had left Ash's shoulders sore and his back stiff and he just wanted to land and stretch for a moment. Nonetheless, with a renewed effort on the parts of Jesse and James to kill him, thought the savant, it wouldn't be wise to set down blindly in a town he'd never before seen.

With that in mind, Ash and Misty circled down out of the clouds, banking in large, lazy circles to get a broad view of the city beneath them. On the surface, Fuchsia presented the casual areal observer with an unremarkable sight. Laid out on a grid, the city consisted mainly of buildings constructed from either rough-hewn timber in the case of the higher facades, or unremarkable brick walls and slate roofs. By far, the former type of building seemed the more popular choice of residence. Ash counted many dozens of apartment complexes of five stories or more all clustered around the core of the city and making up what looked like the biggest collection of tall buildings contained within the thick palisade protecting the city from the outside world. From that spire at the center of the town it seemed that all the rest of the city sloped downwards like the sides of a mountain. Office buildings, commercial structures, private homes, and the like all flowed out in a fairly even scatter of shapes, with the squattest buildings running right up to the palisade.

Ash signaled Misty and touched the radio at his ear. "Let's set down just outside that gate," he pointed to the wooden gatehouse on the northern side of the city, only a block away from a large open space that looked to serve as the city's market or forum. "From there we can head straight to the main square and snoop around for Brock."

"Sounds good," Misty answered, raising her voice over the whipping cross-breezes.

Angling downwards at a greater angle, the pair glided towards the ground, aiming for the least populated section of the forum. To the sound of a great number of cries and gasps of surprise, Charizard flapped his wings a few times before his clawed feet thumped down on the packed earth of the square, tearing up small divots. Gently as a feather, Misty and Pidgeot touched down beside the great lizard and both trainers extricated themselves from their saddles. Neither traveler failed to notice the small crowd of people that either stood at a safe distance to watch, or cautiously afforded the Gym Leader and his partner a wide berth as the citizens went about their business.

Turning to some of the nearer people Ash set one hand on Charizard's side and waved with his other. "Don't mind us," he said with a reassuring grin. "We're here for business, not trouble."

Most still watching Ash carefully, the people began to disperse and go about their business. The young trainer turned to Charizard, patted his side, and thanked the dragon for his help. Charizard snorted and looked away from Ash with an indifferent sniff of the air. Ash sighed and returned the dragon to its pokeball, then turned to Pidgeot, rubbed his fingers through the feathers of her crest, and patted her neck. Cooing happily and closing her eyes, Pidgeot disappeared into the light of the pokeball as Ash snapped the little orb closed in his hand.

Misty touched Ash's arm to grab his attention. "Where to?" she asked.

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but paused for a moment. Facing Misty, he glanced over her shoulder and into the crowd of observers which had almost completely dispersed. His gaze instinctively locked on the violet eyes peering at him from under the purple hood. The girl in the faded jeans and violet hoodie tucked her hands in her pockets and turned away. As soon as a single passer-by walked between the girl and Ash, blocking her from his sight for a split second, she vanished. Ash winced, casting about to find her, unable to catch sight of the girl a second time.

"Ash," Misty said, regaining his attention. "Did Brock say where he was going to meet us?"

Ash looked back at his partner and shook his head, suddenly a little unnerved. "Well he never exactly said he'd meet us," reminded Ash. "He only said he was going to Fuchsia, and we decided to try and meet up with him."

"Right," Misty muttered. "Well even if we don't meet him, at least we're here. And by the way, you never get to accuse me of being stubborn ever again."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?" he asked.

"Because I just spent the better part of a day flying over Vermilion Bay so you wouldn't have to walk like the other ninety-nine percent of people who travel," she teased.

"We flew," Ash added, his voice growing quieter, until Misty almost couldn't hear him over the business in the forum, "so we wouldn't run into any trouble. Now that we're back in civilization I'm not quite as worried about Team Rocket jumping out to kill us. Still, be careful."

Misty nodded. "I know," she said with a grin the belied the serious tone in her voice. "I say we head to the Pokemon Center, figure out which way to the gym, and be done here. If we meet Brock in the process, then great."

Neither Ash nor Misty noticed the figure in the purple hoodie turning away from them. From her hiding spot opposite a stand of Fuchsia souvenirs from the trainers, the girl with the violet eyes tucked her hands in her pockets and began casually walking away.

Ash and Misty set off from the forum, walking south into the city. After only a block, Ash had to stop and look around to get his bearings. From the air the city had seemed to rest on a simple, east-to-navigate grid of main roads and smaller side streets. On foot however, both trainers quickly discovered that the main roads, while running in near perfectly straight lines, crossed Fuchsia's hilly terrain by utilizing a network of shallow bridges that spanned smaller roads built in the dips. The side streets crisscrossed the main roads at differing intervals and twisted off into the city at odd angles, breaking into yet more and smaller roads that wound through alleys and into dead ends. All of the buildings looked so much alike that, combined with the confusing layout of the city, Ash and Misty found themselves baffled.

When the pair stopped to ask for directions to the Pokemon Center, the friendly people they encountered gave what sounded like simple and sound advice on which roads to take for how long. Upon reaching the intersection where they were to turn however, the trainers discovered that their road consisted of two, three, or even four smaller footpaths that all shared a common name. Compounding their frustration, when Ash and Misty stopped again to ask more questions, the still friendly folk of the city offered advice that completely conflicted with what they'd been told upon leaving the forum. By the time the sun began to dip behind the palisade, the trainers had spent more than four hours wandering the city in search of the Pokemon Center.

"How does anyone live here?" Ash groaned, scratching the back of his head. Leaning against the exterior wall of a cooper's shop, the trainer looked around and tried again in vain to get his bearings. "Is everyone here just trying to mess with us or are they just used to it?"

Misty shook her head. The thinning rivers of people set her more at ease and she took a deep breath. "From the air it didn't look too bad," she said. "Maybe you could fly up and have a look around?"

"Trouble is," Ash sighed, "that the town is much more confusing from down here. I didn't even see a Pokemon Center when we flew in. Then again I wasn't really looking too hard..."

"Give it a shot," said Misty with a grin. "I'll be fine here for a little bit," she reassured him.

"You're sure?" he asked. "I really don't want to split up and risk not being able to meet up quickly."

"And I really don't want to fly," said the girl. "Go. I promise I'll be fine."

Ash nodded and grabbed a pokeball from his belt. Catching a few wary gazes from passers-by as he released Pidgeot, Ash hopped on the bird's back without bothering to strap himself in. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he said. _Hey_, he contacted Haunter and the ghost floated invisibly out of his pack. _Stay with her_, he ordered the ghost, _and stay out of sight unless she's in real trouble._

The ghost acknowledged with a giddy nod.

"If we do get split up," Misty added, "assume I'll find the Pokemon Center eventually and wait for me there."

"I'll do that," Ash agreed and tapped Pidgeot's sides with his heels. Barely finding the room to open her wings without hitting a wall or a person, Pidgeot carried herself and her rider into the air, where Misty quickly lost sight of them. Leaning against the wall with a sigh, Misty crossed her arms and put one foot up against the brick structure at her back. A minute went by and she began casting about, looking at the people walking around the street.

"Fear and be afraid!" a man yelled somewhere to the east.

Misty's eyes snapped to her left as she searched for the source of the shouting. Casting around for a brief second drew her attention to a spectacle cropping up a dozen yards away. A man with wildly untamed grey hair and a beard to match, dressed in mismatched rags had climbed atop a garbage dumpster he'd dragged from an alley. Shouting at the top of his lungs the man threw out his arms and pointed accusingly at people as the walked by and tried not to look at him.

"We are but motes of dust!" shouted the madman, his voice booming louder than Misty thought his slender frame should allow. "We are but specs floating on a spec. Ours is an island adrift in a sea of utter chaos and apathy.

"You forget," he thrust out his finger at a young man who had stopped to listen to the ravings, "that god is not a man that we may kill him! He is not an object in motion that we may stop him. He is not a creature that we may even understand him. He simply is! God is older than time, more vast than the universe, more all-consuming than the eternal void! We cannot fathom his nature, for nature crumbles in his presence! Stars twinkle out and worlds shatter with his passing by!

"Woe, woe, woe to us should we ever merit his attention!" the man continued to scream. "For we exist only because god does not see us. We have crept up in his shadow, scurrying like mites the bird has yet to pick away, and woe will be us when he finally sees us. Woe will be you, daughter of water," he turned and looked directly at Misty from his place atop the dumpster, "when you understand that our end is growing near!"

Misty felt a sudden pang of anxiety, more from her being singled out by an apparent lunatic than by anything he'd said. She glanced about, noting that of the three or four people who had stopped in front of the yelling man, none had turned to look at her. "Alright," she whispered, turning away. "Let's not stand and listen to the scary crazy person."

"You think me a deaf fool?" yelled the madman, exposing a mouth full of teeth half rotted away. "Murderer, kin-slayer, turncoat that you are, you would accuse me of madness?" Misty stopped dead in her tracks. "Surprised?" the man repeated, glaring at Misty. "I can see what you have done, I can see what all of you have done!" he waved his hands over the people watching the display. "I have dreamed of god! I have touched the mind of god! Such is his power that my simply seeing him opened my eyes to all of the dark things in the world!"

"Alright," Misty repeated. She turned away this time, and walked down the road a bit, coming to a prominent intersection. Glancing over her shoulder at the mad prophet, she saw a man in a dull red uniform had approached him.

"Come on down, Ibrahim," said the man in the red outfit, his voice somehow carrying over the dull background noise of the city. "Lets get you back home."

From his place atop the dumpster, Ibrahim looked at Misty. He made a sign in the air and pointed in her direction. Her lip twisting up in a combination of curiosity and contempt, Misty tried to cow him with a leering stare. She looked away and rounded the street corner when his steely gaze, remarkably level and clear for a lunatic, failed to falter under her own glare. "Crazy," she muttered, waiting uncomfortably at the intersection. "Just some old loon..."

She waited for several minutes, until she could be sure that waiting outside the cooper's wouldn't draw the attention of another raving prophet, then turned and began walking back down the way she'd come. Stopping halfway to her intended destination, Misty paused and took a moment to look around, no small amount of confusion evident in her features. She knew this was the right street, she even stopped to double-check the street sign, but the road looked... different somehow. The street appeared narrower and to twist in a way she didn't recall from when she had walked it less than an hour ago. Unsure of what exactly made her think so, Misty caught herself wondering if the city hadn't been twisting around her the whole time she and Ash had been trying to find the Pokemon Center.

It seemed a silly idea, she noted, but at the same time, now that she stood still and actively watched the scene transpire around her, Misty could swear that the shadows of the oddly shaped buildings were twisting as the sun set. Minutes continued to tick by and Misty made an effort to track the changes. Sure enough, a subtle illusion began to appear and make sense. The trainer couldn't describe how exactly, but the patterns in which the buildings had been arranged, combined with their crenelated roofs and carefully engineered heights, gave the impression to anyone who had not been watching for it that the city was gradually shifting and shrinking. Seeing it unfold so slowly made the girl a little uneasy.

"That is messed up," Misty muttered, wondering who would have gone to the trouble to lay out such a large yet clandestine illusion, and more importantly, why.

"Miss," someone called politely at Misty's right. "You look a little lost. Can I help you?"

Misty shifted to see who had spoken, and saw a young man standing beside her with his arms folded behind his back. Dressed in the same dull red uniform worn by the man confronting the lunatic, the new arrival kept his black hair and beard short and neatly trimmed. Misty smirked, finding him rather attractive.

"I'm actually looking for the Pokemon Center," said Misty, reaching behind her head to tousle her hair. "But I took a wrong turn and now I'm sorta lost."

"Alright," said the man in the uniform. He casually stepped beside Misty and pointed down the road in the direction she'd come from originally. "You're going to head down 9th here and take a left at-" he went on to throw out a couple of twists and turns that Misty might wish to avoid, but the trainer had since stopped listening.

As the man had raised his hand to point down the street, the dimming sunlight had flickered off a small pin, the same color as his uniform, stuck on the man's chest. It took a moment for Misty to make out the shape of the crest, but as soon as she identified the stylized "TR" Misty had twitched and taken a step away. For an instant she fought back revulsion and tried to stymie her overwhelming dislike for the man beside her.

"And it's as simple as that," said the man, smiling politely and turning to face Misty. "Think you got it?"

Misty snapped to, forcing herself to smile politely and nod. "Yep," she said. "I think I understand."

"Alright," answered the Rocket Grunt. "Well is there anything else I can do for you ma'am? If you'd like I can show you the way to the Center personally."

"Oh I don't think that will be necessary," said Misty. "I'm just waiting on a friend actually. He went to look for directions and should be back any minute now."

The man nodded and inclined his head politely. "Have a pleasant evening ma'am," he said before turning and walking off towards the east.

Misty kept her face fixed in a gritted-teeth grin until the man had moved well beyond earshot, and then she sighed. It took the trainer a moment to remember that Fuchsia maintained a more open policy towards Team Rocket than Pewter, Cerulean, or Vermilion. Misty had to steel herself when she realized that it might not be unlikely for her to encounter more members of the organization walking the street. She shook her head and looked up as a quick movement caught her attention.

Scanning the scene before her, Misty turned to her right, looking back towards the intersection and stared for a moment. She could have sworn something moved in and out of her field of vision, but when she looked, there were only people going about their own business. Misty stared for a second, catching sight of the worn grey traveler's cloak. She'd recognize that particular article of clothing anywhere after she had spent days in an identical one on her journey to Mt. Moon. The spiky brown hair of the man walking away from her was also a dead giveaway.

"Brock!" Misty yelled, jogging to the intersection. "Hey Brock!" she repeated.

Stopping and turning around, the Pewter Gym Leader scanned the thin crowd of people for whoever had called his name. He smiled when he saw the redhead bounce up beside him, and held out his hand. Misty greeted the gym leader with a firm handshake and nod, stepping back and noticing the heavy black body armor he wore beneath his cloak.

"Misty," Brock said, not hesitating to pat the trainer on the shoulder and give her a once over. "You're looking good for someone I didn't expect to run into... here of all places. How have you been?"

"Busy," Misty responded. "Vermilion's been hectic since you last visited, but it hasn't been anything too bad. You?"

"Alright," Brock shrugged. "I shouldn't complain, but Viridian's food shortage has spread to Pewter and it's hitting us hard. I was actually on my way back to the Center. Is Ash here?"

Misty nodded. "Somewhere," she sighed. "We were wandering around looking for the Center for hours, but this town is... hard to navigate. You've found it though?"

Brock nodded. "I've been in town long enough to get a feel for the place. I can't tell you why, but it can be a confusing city if you let it get to you."

"Well," Misty looked around again. "Ash and I agreed that if we got separated I'd keep looking for the Center and we'd meet up there."

"Sounds like a plan," said Brock. "C'mon, I'll show you the way."

SC

Finding the Pokemon Center proved no challenge for the Pewter Gym Leader. Brock's innate sense of direction, coupled with his having already gotten the layout of the city down firm, lead the pair straight to the low key little building. Looking it over, Misty could see why Ash had missed it from the air. Fuchsia's Pokemon Center lacked almost all of the characteristics that made the structures unique in every other city Misty had visited. Without a red roof, blue tinted windows, and big white letters to identify it, the Pokemon Center could easily have passed for a regular apartment complex.

Brock and Misty went straight to the front desk, unsuccessfully scanning the lobby for Ash. Using some of the money she'd brought from Vermilion, Misty rented a room right down the hall from Brock for herself and Ash. At Brock's behest, Misty went up to her room to clean up and relax a little while he waited in the lobby for Ash. Settling into the comfortable armchair he'd repositioned to face the door, Brock relaxed with a sigh and reached into his cloak.

SC

"This is ridiculous," Ash grumbled. Looking down on the city from almost a thousand feet in the air, scanning it for any signs of a building marked out to be the Pokemon Center had yielded no results. Even with Pikachu, held firmly in the trainer's lap, spotting amongst the buildings below no signs of the Center manifested. "You'd think I could find _one_ building even if it doesn't have a ruby red roof..."

Pidgeot screeched like a falcon to get Ash's attention. As her trainer looked up, the bird turned without instruction and angled towards the west, where the sun had since dropped below the horizon. To Ash's surprise, flying up from the ground outside Fuchsia, an avian figure took wing and sped into the sky. Straining to see it in more detail, Ash leaned forward in the saddle and squinted into the distance.

"It's obviously a trainer," Ash said as the big figure gained altitude and angled towards Fuchsia. "Probably a Pidgeot or a Pidgeotto."

Pidgeot screeched again in warning as the trainer leveled with Ash in the sky and turned towards him directly. Ash knew his mount's vision shamed even Charizard's, and when something bothered Pidgeot, Ash never hesitated to take it seriously. He tapped her sides with his heels and Pidgeot pulled at the air to gain altitude over the quickly approaching shape. By now he could plainly see the sleek outline of a healthy Pidgeotto, being ridden by a slender figure in white clothes. As the Pidgeotto turned skywards again to remain level with Ash, it came near enough and turned just right for Ash to catch the glint of red from its rider's uniform and hair. The bold "TR" emblazoned on the rider's chest, combined with her fiery red hair made Ash's stomach turn.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed as his pursuer came within shouting distance.

"Me again!" Jesse screamed with glee as her Pidgeotto, lighter and faster than Ash's sturdier mount, heaved itself forward with a blinding motion and angled towards Ash like a javelin in flight.

"Roll!" Ash shouted the order while simultaneously cuing Pidgeot with a touch. The bigger bird tucked one wing and spun to the side, not an instant to late to dodge the charge. First glancing down at Pikachu, ensuring his Pokemon had secured itself to the saddle with the secondary straps, Ash cast about for Jesse, spotting her turning around in the saddle towards him. Taking a second to determine what she was pointing at him, Ash sucked in a surprised breath and again ordered Pidgeot to roll as Jesse led him with the crossbow. He heard the 'thunk' of the arms snapping the cord forward, and tried to angle himself away from the trajectory of the bolt.

Feeling the blunted impact in his back, Ash glanced behind him and saw the heavy bolt had penetrated clean through his pack. The broadhead blades protruded just beside his right shoulder while the tail fins stuck out like feathers on the left side of the backpack. He whirled on Jesse, spotting her reloading the weapon, and reached for a pokeball. "Not this time!" he barked, holding out the little orb and releasing Charizard in a blaze of light. "This time I'm putting you down for good! Charizard," he yelled and pointed at Jesse as his dragon caught itself. The Rocket Agent had almost reloaded. "Drop her!"

Charizard spotted the ascending Pokemon and its rider, and bellowed a battle cry. Wings snapping downward, Charizard propelled itself higher into the air and kept its eyes locked on its prey. As managed to remain level with Jesse as Charizard climbed higher than either. He watched with Pikachu as Charizard rolled upside down and angled at the agent, talons open like the jaws of a charging shark. Jesse spun in the saddle, readied crossbow aimed straight at the incoming monster, and pulled the trigger. Roaring in frustration and rolling to the side, Charizard dodged the missile's full blow, but still felt the searing sting as one of the razor-like fins drew a thin crimson line in his hind leg.

"Flame Thrower!" Ash ordered.

Charizard's eyes flashed red as it dropped below Jesse, opening its wings to steady itself. Bellowing, maw open and shining like a second sun, Charizard blasted a jet of flame towards the mounted agent. Her Pidgeotto rolled away only just in time to save itself an instant death. Jesse, still laughing like a child playing a game, reached into her coat and threw out two pokeballs, both of which popped open and dazzled Ash with a sparkling light.

A familiar caw filled Ash's ears as he looked at the two animals coalescing out of the light. Twin Fearow had come to their master's aid and Ash cursed bitterly. "Where the fuck does she get all these Pokemon?" he spat. "Charizard, keep them off me!" he ordered as he and Pikachu angled for Jesse.

The big dragon acknowledged the order by belching a scorching jet of flame at one of the vulturine Pokemon. The bird, nearly as nimble as Charizard itself, banked away from the flame and changed targets, rushing towards Charizard.

"My turn," Ash growled, patting Pikachu's side as the two closed in on Jesse. "Thunderbolt!"

Chittering like the tail of a rattlesnake, Pikachu locked onto his target, and more than a hundred meters away, Jesse felt her hair beginning to stand on end. Swearing and quickly loosening the thin silver chain around her neck, Jesse flung the shiny object away from her. Making Ash's vision dance with colorful lights, Pikachu flashed white as lightning arced between him and the necklace next to the intended target. A clap of thunder rang in the air, making Pidgeot falter and forcing her to correct her course.

"We'll try not to do that again," he said to his mount as comfortingly as he could. Seeing that the point-blank blast of thunder had nearly stunned Jesse's Pidgeotto, Ash took the time to look up at Charizard and feel out the fight. His dragon, normally a force to be reckoned with in the skies, seemed to be quickly overpowering the two Fearow, despite being outmaneuvered. Both of the fliers must have been young enough to retain sufficient agility to dodge Charizard's fire attacks at any more than fifty yards, and if Charizard closed for a kill one of the Fearow would invariably manage to flank him and force the Pokemon to break off its attack.

Turning to see Jesse angling for him again, knowing she'd probably guessed that Pikachu's attacks were equally dangerous to both sides, Ash cued Pidgeot to try for more altitude. Simultaneously, Jesse raised the crossbow and took aim again, forcing Ash to roll hard to one side.

The battle raged on for several more minutes, painting the skies over Fuchsia with streaks of flame and long plumes of dissipating smoke. Many times, both Jesse and Ash took cover behind the hazy aftermath of one of Charizard's jets of flame. In the post-sunset gloom, the thin smoke might as well have been a wall made from obsidian. Ash wondered briefly why no police on the ground seemed to take notice of the chaos in the air, but he quickly realized that, in a Rocket friendly town like Fuchsia, it was just as likely that the guards had been bought off tonight as that they lacked flying mounts. As the battle migrated west, over the bay and the long bridge which made up Route 18, Ash began to feel Pidgeot's muscles straining beneath him. The harsh areal maneuvers drained his Pokemon and the trainer could only hope that Jesse's Pidgeotto was also slowing down.

"We've go to end this soon," Ash muttered, angling Pidgeot to put one of Charizard's plumes of smoke between himself and Jesse. "If not, shit-" he barked as the smoke in front of him gave way and the Pidgeotto appeared within arm's reach of Pidgeot's beak.

Both mounts screeched in surprise as both Jesse's and Ash's gazes met in a brief exchange of shock. With a bone-jarring smash the birds collided in mid air and began tumbling downwards together. Ash felt his head jolt forward and connect with something solid, splitting his forehead with pain and making his ears ring. Simultaneously he heard Jesse cry out in pain. Opening his eyes, losing track of the plummeting chaos, and feeling the stinging blood from his forehead dripping into his eye, Ash gasped to see Jesse shoving the loaded crossbow one-handed into his face. The Agent's split lip curled up in a sick grin as her mount fought with Ash's, both wanting to break away from the other but continue their attacks, all without falling to their deaths.

Ash threw his hand upward and knocked the crossbow away just as it lurched and flung the bolt into the empty air beside his head. He leaned forward in the saddle, tearing the bow from Jesse's hand, throwing it away, and slamming his clenched fist into her face. The blow connected with Jesse's Zygomatic bone and snapped her head back. As Jesse looked back up, dazed, Ash roared and hit her again, his fist smashing into the same spot and crushing her cheekbone with a splintering crack. Fragments of bloodied bone broke through her skin and jutted up like spines as the right side of her eye socket caved in a little.

Retaliating with a scream, Jesse swiped at him and raked his cheek with her fingernails, tearing away ditches of flesh and hooking Ash's head down with the blow. Her eyes dancing with fire, even as the bridge rocketed up at them, Jesse reached out and went for Ash's throat. Her hands wrapped around his windpipe and squeezed like a vice. Ash jerked at her wrists, but only managed to cut himself as her nails dug into the back of his neck.

Hissing and squeezing his cheeks, Pikachu exploded with a blast of light and thunder, the shock wave blasting the areal combatants away from each other and stunning all those present. Only a split second behind Jesse, Ash watched in stunned awe as the agent missed the bridge, her mount shooting downwards at a steep angle and crashing like a meteor into the metal shed set atop one of the artificial islands meant to anchor the bridge. Less than a second later, Ash felt the impact of the water like hitting a floor of concrete, just before the freezing substance collapsed around him and the world seemed to go dark.

He forced himself not to suck in a breath, and tried for a moment to pull himself towards the surface only to find that his arms couldn't move. He wanted to look up at where the sky should be, but his shocked body simply refused to move. Then he remembered the the thick leather straps of Pidgeot's saddle held him securely against the motionless bird's back and his mind began to race. The smothering darkness seemed to be getting too deep too fast, like it was hurrying him downwards towards the bottom of the bay. The trainer's mind screamed for his body to move, but the tingling buzz that filled the places his arms should have been refused to respond.

As his lungs began to burn a moment later, the lack of air becoming impossible to ignore, Ash pleaded silently with the darkness for help. He didn't want to die, and he could think of no way he wanted to die less than to drown here in the cold dark where his last waking moments would be spent sinking into an abyss. Feeling what might have been his chest and stomach spasming for want of air, Ash screwed his eyes shut as he tried not to breath involuntarily. Only then did he notice a faint white light and begin realize he might just be dying.

Then something hot closed around his waist. Ash couldn't open his eyes, but something spherical popped into his hand and he felt himself beginning to move upwards, quickly. The drowning silence shattered as Ash's head burst above the waves of the bay, and he gasped for air. Hearing a growl of effort, Ash, still panting, unable to relieve his lungs, turned to the side as something wet bumped into him.

"Arcanine?" he muttered in surprise.

To Ash's awe, the huge canine had somehow escaped its pokeball, and now battled the choppy water around him. The orange dog half dove beneath the surface and under Ash, coming up beneath Pidgeot and forcing the immobile bird's upper body out of the water and towards the nearby island. Fighting and barking as wave after wave in the tumultuous bay crashed down on him, Arcanine refused to let Ash, Pikachu, or Pidgeot drop beneath the surface, often staying submerged for a minute or more at a time to keep the others stable.

As Ash tried to focus on just staying awake, a task made easier by the salty water stinging his forehead and cheek, he forced himself to focus on the island fifty meters away. As Arcanine, yipping, sputtering and kicking at the water to close with the artificial anchor for the bridge, pushed them ever closer, Ash instinctively scanned the island for threats. When all he spotted was a collapsed pile of twisted metal, he looked down in his lap. There Pikachu, still strapped to the saddle like his owner, gasped and took deep breaths.

"You're the best," he whispered, patting Pikachu's head. "Good boy getting Arcanine loose."

With a growl of effort, Arcanine pulled at the shoreline of the shallow island and heaved Ash and his Pokemon onto the stable surface. Falling against the pebbles and crushed rocks, Ash only lay there for a minute as he looked over at Arcanine. The massive canine stood defensively over his trainer, looking all around and ensuring no danger showed its head, before shaking himself dry and looking down at Ash.

"Good boy," Ash said to Arcanine, looking up at the big panting dog.

Arcanine barked, letting his tongue roll out of his mouth happily, before leaning down and licking Ash's face. The young trainer ignored the biting sting that brought to his cheek for Arcanine's sake, and reached to unbuckle himself from the saddle. Flopping down onto his side, Ash coughed and rested against the ground for a minute before pushing himself up to his knees. He shifted to look Pidgeot over, his heart sinking to think that he's lost another faithful mount.

"You did good," he said, looking at the still bird, his chest tightening to see her right wing broken and bent back the wrong way. "Well done." He reached out and set his hand on her side, raising an eyebrow to feel a tiny twitch run through her muscles. The Pokemon lurched and gargled up a screeching cough. A combination of water and mucus spatted against the ground beside the bird's nares as Pidgeot sneezed hard and began screeching.

"Easy," Ash called as his mount floundered up to her feet, flailing her broken wing in a confused panic. The trainer finally resorted to wrapping his arms as far as he could around Pidgeot's frame, effectively pinning the bird's wings against her body and holding her immobile. Still squawking and trying to break loose, Pidgeot flopped to the ground, taking Ash with her and kicking up a small storm of dirt.

Ash closed his eyes and tucked his face into the Pokemon's feathered neck to shield his eyes as Pidgeot's good wing broke loose of his grip and started started slapping all around. Yelping in pain, Ash gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as Pidgeot kicked with one leg and slashed her talons down Ash's calf. Ash's thick pants split like paper and he felt the sharp pain rip into his leg.

"Stop!" he said as calmly as he could. "It's me! Calm Down."

Pidgeot's thrashing left Arcanine bewildered and Pikachu powerless atop the bird's saddle, but Ash held on, continuing to speak to the animal and try to hold her broken wing immobile. After what seemed hours to Ash, Pidgeot's tossing about slowed, whether from fatigue or calm he couldn't tell, and gradually the bird came to rest. Ash got to his knees, still holding the wing against his mount with his chest and one arm, and felt along her neck up to the point above Pidgeot's eye. Carefully he rubbed his hand through her feathers and scratched behind her crest. Pidgeot's big head turned on Ash and she looked at him with both fear and exhaustion as her chest rose and fell in quick succession and her wing continued to twitch against Ash.

The trainer continued to whisper to his Pokemon for another minute until the bird had completely stopped struggling and some of the panic had left her eyes. Slowly Ash let go while Pidgeot remained motionless, standing with a her wing bent back at the elbow. He assured her it was going to be alright and reached for her pokeball. Detaching it from his belt he quickly returned her to the orb and sighed in relief. _At least she's alive_, he thought as Pikachu dropped from the saddle when Pidgeot disappeared.

"Thanks again," he said to Arcanine, hobbling up to the Arcanine and petting the canine. Arcanine rumbled happily and bumped Ash with the side of his head. A moment later Ash turned as a heavy thud shook the ground a few yards away. Charizard landed on all fours and sat on its haunches. Ash could see the dragon pull its lip back and claw at a dull brown feather stuck awkwardly between its fangs. Ash couldn't hold back a grin.

Turning towards the collapsed metal shed, Ash picked up Pikachu and tried to decide whether or not he wanted to investigate. He told himself that there was no way Jesse could have survived the impact, but there couldn't be any harm in just making sure. Climbing up on Arcanine's back, Ash directed the canine to the pile of twisted debris and stepped off. His wounded calf made it difficult to walk and he leaned on Arcanine for support.

"Wow..." he muttered. What remained of the shed looked like the bridge overhead could have collapsed on it for all the damage it had sustained. "What a mess."

Ash froze, staring at the wreck when he heard a faint moan. He waited a minute longer and heard a grunt, followed by a small clang of falling metal, then another moan followed by silence.

"No way," Ash muttered. "There's no way she survived." He waited another minute as a faint whimpering made his blood go cold. He quickly turned away, deciding that Jesse must have been trapped under the debris and it would be best to just leave her. Starting to swing one leg over Arcanine's back he stopped short, hearing another grunt followed by the pitiful groaning again. The trainer's heart sank. "I'm going to regret this..." he complained, walking towards the shed and leaving a confused pair of Pokemon behind.

Listening as the struggling in the debris went silent, Ash leaned down and began pulling sheets of metal away from the wreck. Working carefully to avoid cutting his hands on the edges of the scraps, Ash gradually cleared away enough of the trash to look down into a small hollow created by the collapse. He dropped the sheet in his hand off to one side and tried to think of the best way to approach this. Six or seven feet below, Jesse lay broken and pinned beneath the heavy beam that had at one point acted as the shed's main support. Her arms crushed beneath the beam on either side of her chest left her completely immobile. The two halves of her Pidgeotto had both landed on opposite sides of the hollow, and left Jesse spattered from head to toe in red.

"Hold on," Ash groaned, leaning down, taking hold of a broken pipe sticking out of the wreck, and slowly picking his way down into the hollow. For a moment he considered calling in Arcanine or Charizard, until he realized neither Pokemon could navigate the debris well enough to matter.

"What," Jesse growled. "Want to finish me off yourself? Not enough to just leave me to rot?"

Standing over the agent, Ash bit the inside of his cheek, suddenly unsure of helping her get loose. A moment passed as he tried to focus on simply how to get the beam off her before he spoke. "Why me?" he asked, making Jesse raise an eyebrow. "What the hell did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?"

"Simple," Jesse spat, "My boss ordered me to bring you in, so I will. Now just get this over with."

"What does your boss want with me," Ash asked. "What is all this about?"

"For fuck's sake," Jesse groaned. "Are you going to finish me off or just talk me to death?" She struggled against the beam to no avail. "I'll tell you that you're in the way of a better world so you have to be removed. You're a blight, a thorn in the side of progress. That's all."

"But what did I do?" Ash pressed. "Is this about Team Rocket or is there something bigger?"

"You know what?" Jesse half laughed, half wheezed, as the beam settled lower on her with a creak. "Go to hell."

Ash clenched a fist. "Fine," he said, leaning down and kneeling by her side. "You can be a cold, murderous bitch all you want. I don't care any more, but..." he slipped his fingers under the side of the beam and planted his feet. "I'm not going to kill you. And you know why?" He strained, inflaming the pain in his calf as he heaved the heavy metal beam a few inches off Jesse's chest.

The agent looked up at him silently for a moment, baffled, before turning over on her stomach and crawling out from under the debris. Ash growled and dropped the beam where it crashed to the ground between his feet. He leaned forward, drained, and rested his hands on his knees. Taking deep breaths and already sweating from exertion, he looked over at the Rocket Agent, who had propped herself up against the side of the hollow. Now, Ash could see most of the right side of her body had been crushed and bloodied almost beyond recognition. How she was still alive, much less moving and struggling, Ash couldn't understand.

"Why?" Jesse asked calmly between huffs for air.

"Because," Ash said, straightening up a little to face her. "It's the right thing to do." He walked forward and offered her a hand up. "You can't make it out of here on your own and you'll die if you stay. C'mon."

Jesse stared at him for a second, her expression completely unreadable. "You're going to regret this, you know," she said, reaching up and taking his hand.

"I know," he answered, pulling her arm over his shoulder and looking up at the edge of the hollow. Arcanine and Pikachu stared down at him, both wearing curious grimaces. "I'll be right up," he called at them. "Don't worry."

Silently supporting the grievously wounded agent, Ash climbed and crawled up the side of the ring of debris, struggling the whole way. By the time he reached his Pokemon, the trainer's knees were shaking and his heart raced. Likewise, Jesse had begun to swoon and nearly fainted more than once on the ascent. Looking up at the massive column of the bridge, Ash sighed in relief to see that a maintenance ramp wound its way around the support and allowed for foot traffic all the way up to the main platforms. Following the bridge with his eyes, Ash tried to estimate how far he'd have to travel to get back to Fuchsia. In the dark such approximations could only be guesses at best, but Ash clearly saw that an hour or more lay between him and the city.

"It's going to be a long night..." he muttered. Straining as Jesse slumped against him, passing out and hanging like a dead weight, Ash fought for his balance until Arcanine helped prop him up. "A very long night," he amended.

SC

Sitting on the stool in the emergency room, Ash tried not to notice how much attention he drew from the people all around him. Opposite him on another stool sat a young nurse. Using a cotton swab, she drew thick lines of a sterile medical paste over the gashes in Ash's cheek. The salve felt so cold that it burned horribly, making Ash clench his fists at his sides.

_I want to get back out there..._ he thought, caustically mocking his own words in his mind. _I want to go back on the road to save the world. Right. Barely a week since I decide to set off again and I've already been stabbed, slashed, burned, ambushed, hospitalized twice, and to top it all off I still don't know exactly where the Pokemon Center is at..._ The trainer sighed and decided then and there that if he ever started a town, he would make sure that the Pokemon Center and the human hospital were located on the same block, if not in the same building, right in the center of the urban sector.

"Ouch," he muttered, trying not to draw away as the nurse pressed an adhesive bandage over his cheek and checked the edges.

"Sorry," said the nurse. "But it stings because it's working." She grinned a little. "And maybe it will teach you that it's dangerous to fly over populated areas after dark."

"Believe me, I know," said Ash. "Do you know how that other woman is doing?"

"We rushed her to the trauma center as soon as you brought her in," answered the nurse. "It hasn't been very long sir, but for what it's worth, I've seen people in worse condition than her in here before. For the silver lining though," the young woman smiled, tucking her light red hair behind her ear, "your friend is Team Rocket so the local chapter should pick up the bill for both her care and yours."

"That's a nice bonus," said Ash, looking down at his bandaged calf and leaning down to pet Pikachu. The little rodent sat patiently on the floor at his trainer's side, cleaning himself. "So am I good to go?"

The nurse nodded. "If you take it easy, then I'll say you're fine to leave. I'll just bill Team Rocket for the medical expenses. They're usually pretty good about covering their members' tails."

Ash nodded and stood up, scooping up his Pokemon and ignoring the stinging in his leg. He had no idea what kind of medical glue the hospital used to treat lacerations like his, but he was going to find out and bring it back to Vermilion if he got the chance. "Thanks," he said, setting Pikachu on his shoulder. "One more question though, if you have time?"

The young nurse cast about the room for a moment and, given that it was a slow night and she saw nothing demanding her immediate attention, she turned back to Ash. "Shoot," she said.

"How do I get to the Pokemon Center?" he asked. "I'm meeting some friends and I'm already about as late as I can be."

"Well," the nurse checked the clock on the wall. "I'm off at midnight, and I live a block away from the Center, so if you can give me half an hour I can show you the way."

"That would be quicker than me spending the rest of the night stumbling around looking for it," Ash commented.

"Good," the young woman chimed. "It's a fairly long walk and I for one wouldn't mind having an experienced trainer for an escort. My name's Joy by the way, nice to meet you."

"Ash," the trainer and the nurse exchanged handshakes. "I guess I'll be in the waiting room," he nodded off towards a lone of chairs by the emergency room entrance, getting up and walking away when she told him that would work.

Thirty minutes later, Joy had clocked out and changed out of her scrubs. Meeting Ash by the door carrying a backpack and a small plastic case, Joy lead the trainer outside. The night air in Fuchsia blew harder and colder than in Vermilion, making both Ash and Pikachu shiver once before shrugging it off. Joy on the other hand, dressed as she was in jeans and a leather jacket, seemed revitalized by the sudden blast of cold when the glass doors slid open.

"It's down this way," said the nurse, pointing to and leading Ash down a well lit road. "There will be a couple of twists and turns, but nothing too major. Just stay close," she winked at her companion.

Ash grinned awkwardly for a moment, glad Pikachu sat vigilantly atop his shoulder. "I knew a nurse Joy when I worked in Vermilion," said the trainer. "She actually had pink hair just like yours and she worked at the Pokemon Center. Come to think," he looked a little harder at the girl walking beside him, but stopped short, not wanting to comment on the resemblance between the two, potentially, unrelated people.

"I'm not surprised," said the girl in the jacket. "I've got a big family and you probably met one of my cousins."

"Cousins?" Ash probed.

Joy nodded. "It's kinda a funny story. My mom had five sisters, all of whom grew up in Saffron, went their separate ways, and got married. They all fell out of touch with the others, but, and here's what makes me laugh, each of them had a daughter they named 'Joy' who all went into nursing."

"Wow," said Ash. "What are the odds."

"What's even better is that none of the Joys knew about it," said the nurse. "We all grew up in different cities and never met until the Celadon Medical Center had this big convention and we all ran into each other by accident."

"And have you all stayed close?"

"You bet," said Joy. "How could we not? Actually our whole family kinda came back together after that. All of our moms started keeping in contact, and the cousins all write each other regularly. Every couple of months we all got to Celadon to hang out for a few days, hit the casino, you know." She looked up at Ash and glanced at Pikachu. "By the way," she said. "Speaking of my cousins, Joy in Vermilion mentioned a guy by the name of Ash in a few of her letters recently. What's your last name?"

Ash grinned a little. "Ketchum," he said.

"I knew it!" Joy exclaimed. "As soon as you walked in with a Pikachu and an Arcanine I knew it had to be Ash Ketchum. My cousin said you were getting ready to travel again, but what brings you to Fuchsia?"

"Business," said the trainer as Joy turned and led him down another street, this one dipping down and passing under a bridge. "It's actually not something I can go into a whole lot of detail about with anyone but the Gym Leader here."

"You mean Koga?" Joy said. "So this is stuff between the Gyms?"

Ash nodded. "To a limited extent."

"Good luck finding him," said Joy. "The gym belongs to Team Rocket now."

"What?" Ash stammered. "Since when?"

Joy paused for a moment. "It's been about a year since Koga's men moved out of the city and left the gym empty. After that it just sat vacant for months until a few weeks ago when Team Rocket bought the property from the city and set up shop."

"Does anyone know where Koga is now?"

Joy shrugged. "I couldn't tell you for sure," she said. "But I know Koga maintains a presence in the city, or at least that's what the mayor says. Whether or not he really does is anyone's guess, but I can tell you that nothing changed too much after the gym moved out. The crime rate stayed about the same at least, and that was Koga's main responsibility... keep crime low. Now that Team Rocket has moved in, that's gotten even lower, despite more and more businesses closing down and food getting more expensive."

"I'd heard about that," said Ash. "A lot of the people moving to Vermilion were people who had lost their jobs here and in Celadon, and people trying to get away from Saffron."

"Yes, but that's starting to get better. Team Rocket does a lot of good work around here," said Joy. "They'll pay people's medical expenses, provide cheap food to people who are out of work. They've recently bought up a lot of the old apartments and started fixing them up, hiring people and paying them a good rate."

"Sounds too good to be true," said the trainer.

"Maybe," said Joy. "Even if it is, they're still doing a lot of good. Where they get all this money is beyond me, but I'm not going to question something that's working."

_They get it from draining places like Vermilion dry,_ Ash thought. _Who knows who they're extorting to pay for all of this good press..._

Ash and Joy slipped into small talk for the rest of the journey. The walk went by quickly as both told jokes or funny stories, or in Ash's case, talked about adventures from his past. Making a conscious effort to avoid the topic of Team Rocket or Misty's past, Ash gave Joy a brief overview of his travels from Pallet to Cerulean. He skipped over Lavender and by the time he reached the point of his becoming Gym Leader, he and Joy had stopped in front of a tall and unassuming structure.

"This is it?" Ash asked, looking up at the building. "It's got _one_ sign saying it's the Pokemon Center," he grumbled. "I'll bet we walked by this place twice and never saw it."

"Maybe you'll be a little more observant from now on," Joy teased. "Wow, you're just learning all kinds of lessons today."

Ash smiled and shook his head. "Oh well, thanks for your help," he said. "I'd have been lost all night if you hadn't helped me out."

"Don't mention it," said the nurse. "But, if you ever want to get lost, I might be able help you with that too." She stepped back and waved before he could respond. "Good luck!" she said before shifting to keep walking away.

Ash waved and watched her round a corner down the street. Walking past a figure in a purple hoodie sitting against one of the decorative retaining walls, Ash sighed in relief and stepped through the Center's big doors. Looking around to get his bearings he immediately spotted the man standing up from a comfortable armchair on the other side of the room. Brock smoothed out some of the wrinkles in his cloak and walked forward to meet Ash halfway through the room.

"Brock," Ash beamed, clasping the Gym Leader's hand as the two greeted each other with a firm hug. "I didn't expect to see you here so soon, but I still hope you didn't have to wait up too long."

"You're late and you look like hell," said Brock, quickly taking note of Ash's wounds. "What happened?"

"Long story short," said Ash, "Team Rocket ambushed me and it turned into a bloodbath." He paused as Brock raised an eyebrow before continuing, not mentioning that he not only let his attacker go, but also saved her life. "But the details aren't too important. Have you seen Misty?"

"She's up in your room," said Brock. "I told her I'd wait up until you got here. Damn," he looked Ash over again with a laugh. "You look like a Snorlax sat on you... go to bed. We can talk in the morning."

"First I've got to get Pidgeot looked at. She took a beating and needs help."

Checking Pidgeot into the emergency wing, Ash left his mount's pokeball with the nurse behind the counter, making it clear to her that money was not an issue. Whatever his Pokemon needed, Ash had said, he'd pay the premium price for the care. With that, Brock and Ash headed up stairs. The younger trainer had said that he likely had some explaining to do to Misty, to which Brock had responded with nothing but a shake of his head before leaving Ash in the hall.

After Brock's door had closed, Ash took a steadying breath, not sure exactly how to explain the new bandages, and knocked on the door. To the trainer's surprise, the door swung in as he touched it, the locking mechanism unhitched. Ash glanced into the dark room, a smirk flitting across his face. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Misty," he whispered. "Are you still up."

A rustling of covers from the bed drew his attention as Misty rolled over and raised her arm to signal him over. Ash stepped inside and closed the door behind him, shirking out of his shirt and pants and tossing them over the back of a chair. Quietly asking if he'd woken her up, Ash crawled under the covers next to Misty. The pair quickly snuggled close and Misty turned to face him in the dark.

"Nope," she said. "I left the door unlocked in case I fell asleep before you got back," she went on. "Where were you?"

Ash guessed she hadn't seen the bandage on his cheek. "Well, um," he stammered for a second. "Team Rocket ambushed me," said the trainer matter-of-factly.

"Right," Misty chuckled. "Funny." She reached up and put her hands on his cheeks to kiss him, instead twitching when Ash flinched and she felt the bandage. "You weren't kidding," she bolted up in bed, not bothering to pull the covers up in front of her chest. "Ash what happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered calmly. "Don't worry about a thing." He reached up and put a hand on the side of her neck, prompting her to lay back down. "Pidgeot took the worst of it for me and she should be alright soon enough."

"I'm glad you're alright," she said, kissing the cheek Jesse hadn't raked. "But at least tell me... was it Jesse and James again?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, or Jesse at least. I didn't see James but I'm going to assume he's somewhere in town." Despite his best efforts to remain level headed, Ash almost mentioned that he'd let Jesse go. Catching himself however he decided that nobody needed to know that right now. Such details would likely spoil the moment and Ash was greatly enjoying the calm and the feel of Misty's warm body against his.

"I'm sorry I wasn't with you," Misty sidled a little closer.

"It all happened in the air," said Ash as he saw a wry grin flit across Misty's lips. "But thanks."

"Can I at least make it up to you," said the girl.

* * *

AN: Howdy folks, and thanks to all for reading. First and foremost, let me say thanks to my chief beta and good friend, demonicnargles, who has a talent for calling things like he sees them and isn't afraid to be tactfully frank.  
Along that line of betas and calling things out, I want to make one thing as clear as I can before anything goes any farther... the canon Pokedex entries in the games and the first season of the anime (which together represent just about all of my contact with Pokemon Canon,) are in many cases beyond crazy. Many of the powers it claims some Pokemon possess are simply impossible. I can understand Pokemon being able to shoot lightning, breath fire, and move at breakneck speeds, but physics will only bend so far for a story. There's no way, for example, that Pidgeot could fly or even dive at 680 meters per second (right around mach two) unless it's packing muscles that run on fusion power. And let's not even try to guess about what those kinds of speeds would do to the animal should it actually reach them while flying in anything other than a frictionless vacuum... ignoring the problems with that possibility.  
I like awesome stuff, I really do so don't get me wrong and think that I'm going to completely do away with all of any given Pokemon's awesome power. They're dangerous creatures and I'm going to portray them as such. I'm just going to use the Pokedex as more of a guideline than an actual rule and, say, tone Charizard's breath weapon down from 2,000 degrees C (the temperature at which Thermite burns) to a more reasonable 1,000-1,200 degrees C (roughly the temperature of most Bunsen burners.)  
Anyway, thanks again for reading and I'll see you next chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – The Masters of Shadow

"Well if Koga's not in town then where is he?" asked Misty. She leaned back into the comfortably upholstered booth and took a bite of her biscuit.

"Joy said that the gym keeps a presence in Fuchsia," Ash answered. "Meaning that he either houses people within the city or has to move them in and out at least somewhat regularly."

"And seeing as how Fuchsia is a Rocket friendly town," Brock added, "it would make sense that Team Rocket know something about it either way."

"Since they're operating out of the old gym anyway," Misty grinned, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table, "that probably wouldn't be a bad place to start."

Sitting around the booth's table in the Pokemon Center's cafeteria, none of the three trainers seemed to notice that the breakfast platters around them had long since been emptied. Unsubdued sunlight, afforded by the two-story windows in the east flooded both the first and second level of the cafeteria with a warm glow. One of the great blocks of light fell directly across the table opposite the trainers, making it undesirable this early in the day and thusly empty, affording Ash, Misty, and Brock a measure of seclusion even during the breakfast rush.

"I scoped out the facility when I came into town yesterday," said Brock. "I didn't get too great of a look but as far as I can tell it's nothing too special, even if there's always a lot of activity. With all of the programs Team Rocket runs out of the place it would be impossible to get in or out without someone picking up on us moving around."

"We don't need to be particularly subtle," said Misty. "Getting in could be as simple as walking in the front door to get some information on jobs around town. After all, as far as anyone here knows I'm an unemployed trainer from out of town so it wouldn't be weird if I went in and happened to ask if the gym was hiring. When I hear that the gym closed down and moved out I'll have every reason to be curious."

Brock and Ash paused to look at each other. "Sure," said Brock, surprised that Misty had been so forthcoming with a plan. "That could work."

"Aren't you a little nervous about being..." Ash paused, "recognized?"

"I would be if this were Cerulean," Misty shrugged. "But it isn't. Team Rocket operates mostly in isolated cells, or at least it used to," Misty went on, crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaning back. "Low ranking people working for them in one city normally don't travel much and most of the people who work in the pubic eye are the lowest of their ranks, all the better to keep information under control."

"If you're comfortable with that," said Ash, more than a little shocked by Misty's sudden openness. "It wouldn't be hard to throw you in a nondescript outfit and wait outside while you went into the base. Is that the plan then?"

Brock and Ash both looked at Misty as the redhead nodded. "Unless you guys have something better," said Misty.

"Settled then," said Brock, standing up from the table and taking all three trainers' dirty dishes. "I'm going to head out and pick up a few odds and ends but I'll be back before noon. Why don't you two stay here and wait for word about how Pidgeot is doing?"

Ash nodded. "You read my mind," he answered. "Where will you be going?"

"The department store for one," said Brock. "And I saw a military surplus store yesterday so I was going to see if I could find it again. See you two later," Brock nodded and walked off, stopping at the trashcan to dump the trays.

Ash and Misty both waited at the booth while he left. Scanning the many faces in the room and catching bits and pieces of the conversations floating around the sparsely decorated cafeteria, Ash subconsciously kept an eye out for trouble. Since Jesse's attack the day before he'd been understandably on edge and wary for anything out of the ordinary. Seeing nothing that broadcast itself as a threat however, he turned to Misty.

"You sure about this? he asked, scooting away just a little to better face her.

Nodding, Misty took a deep breath. "Not really," she answered, contradicting her body language. "But I can't really think of a better way to potentially cut out hours or even days of useless searching. I might just get lucky and uncover something useful."

Ash couldn't deny that Misty's plan had at least a marginal chance of turning up information. "I just don't want you walking into some something..." he stopped short, not wanting start a groundless lecture. "Never mind," he added with a grin. "It's a good idea."

The two trainers stood up and walked from the cafeteria. Misty went back upstairs to get cleaned up, while Ash made his way to the emergency room's front desk. Showing the card he'd been given upon putting Pidgeot in for intensive care, Ash waited while the nurse paged one of the doctors. The woman behind the desk directed Ash to the row of chairs on the opposite side of the room. Quickly taking note of everyone in the room, most of them young trainers standing around with dour expressions, Ash sat down in one of the chairs and rested his elbows on his knees.

Several minutes went by before the nurse at the desk stood up to greet a balding old man in a white coat who emerged from one of the many halls leading off from the front desk. The nurse directed the doctor to Ash with a gesture and the old man casually approached the young trainer and extended his hand. "You must be Mr. Ketchum," the doctor greeted him.

Ash stood and inclined his head slightly. "That's me," he answered.

"A pleasure," said the man in the coat, his quiet tone betraying his old age. "Call me Doc Lawrence, and to get to the point, your Pidgeot is going to be fine," he smiled, eliciting relieved sigh from Ash, "if you go easy on her for the next several weeks."

"I can definitely do that," said Ash, relaxing and scratching the back of his head. "So we're talking no flying for a while?"

Dr. Lawrence shook his head. "No, no, not at all. I'd strongly advise against it. Give her a week of uninterrupted rest minimum. Don't let her fly at all for at least that long and when you do let her stretch her wings make sure that she doesn't strain herself," the doctor cleared his throat. "As for how long it will be until you can safely ride her... I'd say you should make it at least a month, maybe two."

Ash twitched. "I can wait that long if you say so," he answered, disappointment clear in his voice.

"I do," said the man in the coat. "For all their strength and agility, birds are fragile things and it's important that you don't press them beyond their abilities."

Proceeding to lecture Ash on the necessities of looking after one's airborne Pokemon, the doctor spent the next twenty minutes going over methods by which the young trainer could help safely speed Pidgeot's along. Revealing that his specialty was working with fliers, Dr. Lawrence briefed Ash on a few simple rehabilitation techniques and exercises, including some basic stretches to have her perform on the ground over the next few weeks, and aerial maneuvers to have her fly.

Thanking the doctor for his time, Ash retrieved Pidgeot's pokeball from the nurse at the counter. He clipped the orb to his belt and turned to leave. Making for the stairs in the main lobby, Ash paused when he entered the open room. Suddenly very suspicious that he was the target of some prying gaze, Ash scanned the faces in the room as quickly as he could without making himself seem suspicious. Resuming his easy walk, Ash climbed the stairs, taking the opportunity presented by the bend in the staircase to glance behind him. Still he saw nothing.

"Must be nerves," he muttered, reaching the second floor and quickly picking out the door to his and Misty's room. He tried the handle, and, finding it locked knocked on the door. "It's me," he called.

"Coming," Misty said from the other side. The handle clicked down and the door slid open. "That took a while," said Misty, stepping back to let Ash inside as she ran a towel through her wet hair. "How's she doing?"

"Should be fine," said Ash with a grin as Misty closed the door, shutting out all light, save what streamed in through the windows thin curtains. "The doctor said I shouldn't fly her around for at least a month, though I think I'm going to give her longer than that, just to be safe." He sat on the end of the bed and glanced over at his partner. "You're wearing your hair down," he noted, glancing the closed window and the girl. He thought about opening said window to let out some of the humidity left over from Misty's shower, but decided it was too cool outside to bother. A part of the trainer was sorry he hadn't arrived a few minutes earlier. Though to be fair he enjoyed seeing Misty almost just as much in what she wore now, nothing but one of his shirts, than he would have if she'd been making a conscious effort to entice him.

Hairpin held between her lips, Misty nodded as she grabbed a comb from the dresser and set to work straightening out her hair while Ash leaned back on the bed. A moment later she took the decorative pin and slipped it behind her ear. "You've always said I look like a completely different person when I clean up," she casually glanced sideways at him.

"I've never said that that," Ash pulled his head up to look at her. "Only that you look way different with your hair down."

"So I've decided to put that to the test," she continued as though he'd said nothing at all. "We'll see just how different I can look when I try."

"I've never said anything about you looking different cleaned up," Ash continued, scanning his memory and trying to make sure he hadn't insulted her, outside of playful banter, in the past. "Have I?"

Misty smirked and walked over to him. "No," she laughed once and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. "You didn't. I was just messing with you."

"Oh," Ash muttered, leaning up on his elbows. "I was going to say... I'd have felt like one of the bad guys," he shrugged.

"You?" Misty raised an eyebrow and drew one side of her lip up into an incredulous grin. "Ash, I don't think you could be one of the bad guys even if you really tried. You could never want to in the first place."

"Oh yes I could," Ash countered. "I've just never," he paused, "really wanted to be," he finished halfheartedly. "Maybe you're right."

"That's not a bad thing," Misty answered. She reached up to pull the shirt tighter around her frame when a cool wind blew in through the window and ruffled some papers on the bed's end table.

Sitting up and glancing at the window, Ash pushed up to his feet. Reaching out for the handle to pull it closed he pushed aside the curtains and paused. _Wasn't it,_ he thought to himself, remembering just a moment ago that the portal had been closed.

"Excuse me," said a quiet voice.

Ash nearly leapt out of his skin, and if not for his mind snapping to focus on finding the source of the stranger's voice, he would have heard Misty yell in surprise. He whirled on his heel to search the room, instantly spotting the figure sitting on the floor in the corner. He recognized the violet eyes flitting between him and Misty from beneath the purple hood and went for the knife at his belt.

"I promise," said the figure, floating up like a lithe wand of smoke and holding out the weapon Ash had found missing from his person. "Violence isn't why I'm here."

His hand finding only empty space in place of his knife, Ash froze and watched the new arrival. Glancing over at Misty, who stood as absolutely still as he did, Ash thought for a moment about going for Arcanine's pokeball. _No,_ he decided. _It's too confined in here. _"Alright," said the trainer, holding up his hands as placatingly as he could and turning to fully face the hooded guest. "Then why are you here?"

The figure walked forward and twirled the blade in her fingers to grasp it by its tip, offering it back to Ash. Refusing to break eye contact with the stranger, Ash received the weapon and slipped it into his belt, even while he studied the amazingly nondescript facial features he could make out beneath the shadows cast by the hood. Making Ash wonder how someone could possibly look so unmistakably bland and uninteresting, he realized that, despite the decidedly feminine shape of the visitor's frame, he couldn't conclusively tell by the person's shrouded face whether they were male or female, or even guess at their age. The person's only distinctive feature was his, or maybe her, complete lack of any identifying characteristic.

"I'd hoped to ask for your help, actually," said the figure in the hood.

Misty put a hand on her hip and glanced at the pokeballs she'd left on the nightstand "Awfully forward for someone willing to sneak into another person's bedroom through a locked window. Just who are you?"

The person in the hood took a step away from Ash and turned to better watch both of the other trainers in the room. "I'd be far more clandestine if I was any less desperate." The figure reached up and drew back the hood, pulling away the shadow obscuring her face like a substantive veil. Prompting Ash to raise an eyebrow, every facet of the visitor's face subtly morphed from a bland and unimpressive facade, to the striking visage of a beautiful girl. Her eyes sparkled the color of an amethyst geode in the tamed morning sunlight as she turned back to face Ash more than Misty.

"My name is Janine. I serve the Fuchsia Gym" she bowed, then straightened up. "Or at least I did until recently."

Ash crossed his arms and shifted his weight away from the visitor. "'I'm listening," he said, not entirely convinced he shouldn't still be reaching for his knife. "You said you needed help."

"Yes. Without going into too much detail-"

"No, by all means," Ash interrupted, his pulse only now beginning to slow back down. "Go into detail please."

"As you wish," said the girl in purple. "I suppose that Ash Ketchum of Pallet and Vermilion, Gym Leader, and one of Team Rocket's greatest adversaries deserves the in-depth story."

"And me," Misty added tersely. "I'm standing right here too."

"Pardon me," Janine responded. "I didn't mean to offend you. Of course Ash's companions merit the same attention as Ash himself." She turned around and walked to the chair in the corner of the room, quickly sitting down and folding her hands in her lap. "You must understand, the Fuchsia Gym is, quite intentionally, one of the most misunderstood gyms in the region. Where other cities encourage their gyms to work within the bounds of the law to simply support the local police in maintaining order, Fuchsia takes... took a more proactive approach," she went on, ostensibly making herself comfortable in the chair. "We monitor everything that goes on inside our city, and we encourage our members to take the law into their own hands and combat evil and crime by any means necessary, wherever they find it. Needless to say we go to great lengths to ensure that no one truly knows what we are about."

"Sounds like you're more a group of vigilantes than protectors," Ash commented, noting that everything Janine had said thus far lacked any substantial evidence.

"What are the police if not sanctioned vigilantes?" Janine asked. "Regardless of our methods, no one could argue with our results as Fuchsia had, until recently, one of the lowest crime rates of any city in the region. That was until Team Rocket moved in."

"I'm guessing this has something to do with Koga's decision to move the Gym out of the city," said Ash.

"You'd be correct," said Janine, crossing her legs. "Not a week after you killed Lt. Surge in Vermilion and took over the gym, the number of Team Rocket associates and agents in Fuchsia began growing exponentially. Within a month the number of Rocket sympathizers in Fuchsia had tripled and more kept arriving every day. At the gym, most of us believed Rocket was dirty, but our leader ordered us not to move against them. We had to watch as Team Rocket worked to build up a secret cash-base of money launderers and extortion rackets. When a few of us disobeyed orders and took down a some of Rocket's lower-level schemes, we thought it would show everyone else what needed to be done.

"Instead our leader closed down the gym and moved us out of the city, setting up a 'temporary' facility in one of the old feudal mansions left over from the days when Lavender controlled everything east of Cerulean. We continued to monitor events in Fuchsia and fight crime where we could, but from so far away and with less than a third of our agents actually inside the city at any given time, it was impossible to check all of the crime rings quickly springing up in our absence no matter how hard we worked."

Ash held up a hand, interrupting as politely as he could, and the visitor paused. "I'd heard that the crime rate here stayed relatively stable after Koga moved out," Ash said.

"A circumstance brought about by both Team Rocket's caution after their defeat in Vermilion and the gym's efforts," Janine explained. "Crime bosses wasted no time in setting up business in town as soon as the gym's influence began to wane, and Team Rocket wasted even less in bringing said bosses under their control. With an organization as careful as Team Rocket pulling the strings, and a counter force as effective as the Fuchsia Gym working against it, it's only logical that most of the illegal activity would remain invisible to the public eye. Please understand," said Janine, her tone as level as ever, "in my world, wars are waged from the shadows often using nothing more than misdirected information."

"Alright," said Ash, not missing the unconvinced look in Misty's eye. "What then?"

"Two months ago," Janine resumed, squeezing her hands together only so tightly that Ash barely caught the gesture, "I left the gym with a few of my closest associates and we moved back into Fuchsia to fight Team Rocket on our own. It went well at first and we were able to undo a lot of the progress Team Rocket had made in bringing the smaller crime bosses under their control. We left a lot of bodies behind us," she said as casually as if she were discussing the weather, "but we got the job done. That all changed a three weeks ago when my team discovered that Team Rocket was planning on moving into the old gym headquarters. We couldn't let that stand so we planned a hit on the Rocket Administrator coming in from Viridian City to set it all up. That's where things went bad.

"Team Rocket knew we were coming," Janine took a deep breath. She leaned forward in the chair and put her hands on her knees. "What's worse, the administrator from Viridian had agents from Fuchsia, _my_ old team mates guarding him... my team walked right into a trap. Rocket slaughtered us and the rest of my men all sacrificed themselves so I could get away. I've been in hiding ever since and it's taken pretty much everything I've got to avoid detection."

Misty cleared her throat and took a step closer to Ash. "So you want us to protect you?" she asked, incredulity plain in her voice. "Ash," she turned to the trainer who had taken a seat on the bed. "If what she's saying is true, then we don't have any reason to even be here."

Glancing over at Misty, Janine folded her arms in front of her chest and spoke as softly as when she'd first begun. "I'm not here to ask for help on my behalf," she said before Ash could respond. "It's for my father."

"Please continue," Ash prompted. He looked over at Misty. Both trainers shrugged as their guest began again.

"Koga is my father," said Janine. "He's the one who ordered us not to attack Team Rocket, he's the one who ordered the gym to move out of Fuchsia, and he's the only one who could have ordered the hit on my team... the only problem is that none of those things are like him." She clenched her hands but still spoke evenly. "The Koga I know is a good man who hates injustice and wouldn't abide it for a second. That's why I know he's not the one giving the orders, willingly at least. That means he's either being held hostage or... or he's in real danger and someone has usurped his authority. Either way I need your help to stop all this."

Ash thought for a second as Janine and Misty both fell silent. He rested his chin on his knuckles and stared intently at the floor between his feet. "Assuming that I buy all this," he said, "what makes you think I can help?"

"You're the one who disrupted Rocket's work in Mt. Moon," said Janine. "You stopped them dead in their tracks in Lavender and you tore Vermilion out of their grip," she paused when Ash's unreadable expression melted into surprise. "Don't be shocked," she said, her tone betraying only the slightest hint of the amusement evident in the smirk on her lips. "Information is my weapon of choice and I'm very, very proficient."

"Information is something I don't have a lot of yet," said Ash. "You've told me quite a bit but I still don't know much, not even what you want me to do about your father."

Janine stood up and walked to the window, looking outside she stood perfectly still for a moment. "Earlier this morning you were planning to infiltrate Team Rocket's headquarters here in Fuchsia. I think you'd find that to be a waste of your time as their security is tight and you'd have to fight your way to anything sensitive, giving Rocket ample opportunity to demonize you."

"And your recommendation would be?" Misty asked.

"Simple," said Janine. "I'll show you the way to the mansion outside of town where I believe my father to be, possibly, still in power. Being a Gym Leader yourself," she gestured at Ash, "your demand to meet with Koga will carry a great deal of weight and my father will have to show himself to meet with you. Take that opportunity to challenge him for Fuchsia Gym's public support in your campaign against Team Rocket and he'll have no option but to meet your challenge.

"From there, one of two things will happen," Janine went on, holding up both index fingers for emphasis. "He'll either accept your bid against Rocket and they'll have no choice but to move out of Fuchsia under renewed pressure, not likely. Or, most likely, he'll challenge you, which means you'll either defeat him in which case Rocket still loses, or you lose and have to leave Fuchsia."

"Or die," Misty added.

"Or die," Janine echoed without missing a beat. "But barring death, regardless of whether you fight and win or Koga simply accepts and gives you his public support, Team Rocket loses. Additionally, once Team Rocket is forced out of Fuchsia, I'll have all the freedom and resources I need to figure out how they got a foothold in the gym in the first place."

"What if Koga doesn't show?" Ash asked. "What if he brings out a proxy or whoever's controlling him has someone else in his place. How would I know since I've never seen the man?"

"You wouldn't," said Janine. "But that's irrelevant to the plan. If my father doesn't meet you, then I'll use the distraction you've created by issuing your challenge to find the real Koga. Either way I'll have already infiltrated the gym and I'll be in position."

"Sounds risky," said Ash.

Janine grinned again. "Isn't everything you do risky?"

"How do I know you're not setting us up?" asked the trainer, glancing sideways at Misty, who nodded. "You could be leading us into a trap."

"I snuck in here through a locked window, lifted a weapon off your person, and sat myself comfortably in the corner while you were chatting with your girlfriend," said Janine, her grin growing noticeably. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd have crushed your larynx, strangled your girlfriend with her towel, and torched your room to cover my tracks." She glanced between Ash and Misty. "And I'd have had plenty of surprise to do it."

Ash sighed and put his hands behind his head, wide-eyed. "Are you always so prepared?"

Janine nodded. "Rule thirty-four of the Fuchsia Gym: Be polite and professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

"So," Misty said, drawing the attention of the others. "Getting us back on track only for the sake of argument," she glanced at her partner. "What's the plan if we don't even make it to the gym before the fighting starts? If Koga or whoever is in charge knows we're coming and doesn't want us to make it, then what?"

"That would be the worst case scenario," said the girl in purple. "If not necessarily the least probable. Should we be attacked on the way to the gym, we'll simply go to Plan B."

"Plan B?" Misty repeated.

"Eliminate all hostiles and fight our way to the objective."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You'd be willing to kill your own teammates?" he asked.

"They tried to kill me," said Janine. "I'm overlooking that violation of the code in hopes that all this is a tragic misunderstanding-"

"And because you can't do anything about it," Misty added, her tone less hostile than simply demonstrative.

"That also," answered the stealthy girl. "But if the gym attacks a recognized Gym Leader, rather than a spy whose connection to them they could reasonably deny, then our only option will be to capture whoever's in charge." Janine stopped and watched as both Ash and Misty went quiet. "I realize this sounds a little sudden, but..." she trailed off.

Misty walked to the nightstand and picked up a pokeball, clipping it to her belt in a less than placating gesture. "Whats in it for us?" she asked, turning back to Ash and the visitor.

"Whatever you want," said Janine. "On top of dealing a good hit to Team Rocket, I'm sure we can find something to compensate you. The gym does have considerable resources. And as an act of good faith," she reached behind her back, stopping and freezing when she saw the wary glances she drew from the other trainers. "Antitoxins," she continued and produced several stubby syringes. "If you inoculate yourselves and your Pokemon now the effects should last upwards of a week, more than long enough to complete the mission."

Ash and Misty both took the syringes, though neither one moved to do anything with them. "Well," Misty turned to Ash. "What do you think?"

"I think," said the trainer. "That we should wait for Brock, and get his opinion before we move forward with anything. But," he paused and looked between the needles and Janine, "she does at least have a plan. And if she wanted to kill us I can think of a dozen different ways to do it with a lot less trouble than she'd be going to if this were a setup."

"I am right here you know," said the girl.

Ash started to say something but stopped when a loud knock on the door destroyed the relative quiet in the room. Ash's gaze flitted to the door for only an instant before he turned back to look for Janine. He wasn't surprised by his own shock to find that the girl had vanished like a mirage.

"Its me!" Brock shouted on cue from the other side of the door.

"Coming," said Ash, still scanning the room for the mysterious visitor. It wasn't until he'd passed Misty and walked to the door that he spotted the purple shadow standing in the corner of the bathroom. Her hood already up, standing as still as a painting on the wall, the girl struck a figure so unremarkable that Ash might have overlooked her himself.

Carrying a bag in each hand as Ash let him in, Brock stepped in through the door and walked passed the bathroom door on his left. Quiet as a cat, Janine strode from the door behind Brock, motioning for neither Ash nor Misty to say a word. Misty sighed as Brock turned to face Ash and Janine sidestepped the taller trainer's peripheral vision to remain behind him. Brock exchanged greetings with Ash while the girl in the hoodie waited silently less than a pace behind him. Brock turned around to greet Misty, silent only for a second before the smile on his face melted into unbridled shock. Brock shouted and threw the bags to the ground as he jumped away from the mischievous smile under the hood.

"So much for professional," Ash sighed.

SC

Ash and Misty both sat quietly on the bed, listening without interrupting as Janine explained her plan to Brock. The Pewter Gym Leader, his temple still throbbing with his elevated blood pressure even ten minutes later, leaned against the wall opposite the apartment's door, eyes fixed on Koga's daughter. Throughout the decidedly one-sided exchange, Brock occasionally nodded but remained otherwise expressionless.

"... and that's pretty much it," Janine finished, holding her hands in front of her for additional emphasis. "Obviously, the three of you together are in the least danger here. You'll each be able to provide each other with backup so you've got next to nothing to worry about, compared to some of the things you've faced in the past."

"You've put quite a bit of thought into this," Brock noted.

"I've had more than a week to plan an infiltration of my own home," she answered.

A thought struck Ash and he turned his attention from Brock, who had begun discussing a few details with Janine, to the girl in purple. The young Gym Leader thought for a moment, reviewing in his mind all of Janine's numerous allotments in her plan for Ash and his companions to retreat safely if something were to go wrong, or protocols they could follow if any number of situations were to unfold. Ash tried to remember exactly where Janine had made provisions for her own retreat in a worst case scenario, but he came up short. All of the scheme's machinations revolved keeping Ash and his party safe and as out of harm's way as the circumstances allowed and left Janine's well-being completely out of mind. He wondered exactly why, having been alone in her trouble for the past two weeks, Koga's daughter would build her plan around a team she didn't yet have.

When he interrupted the discussion unfolding on the other side of the room and voiced his concerns on the matter, Ash drew a gaze from the visitor that he could only guess to be some combination of amusement and nonchalance.

"I planned ahead, of course," said the girl in purple. "I had to. Even if I managed to infiltrate the mansion without help, there would be nothing effectual I could do on my own. So I had to get help and I planned accordingly. Your arrival was a stroke of luck beyond my wildest hopes." She smiled at the young trainer. "I'd been planning on hiring a few mercenaries, but I think two Gym Leaders and a skilled trainer should do much better."

"That makes some sense I suppose," Ash nodded. He turned to Brock. "What do you think?"

Exhaling and thinking for a second, Brock shrugged. "I don't think it's the worst we could do," he answered. "I mean she does have a plan as good as anything the rest of us could come up with, and we are looking for Koga anyway. I say why not."

"Misty?" Ash asked, looking at the trainer sitting beside him on the bed.

"Sure," Misty mirrored Brock's shrug. "One way or another it sounds like this is happening," she cast a sidelong glance at the girl on the opposite side of the room. "Possibly."

Ash nodded and stood up. "Well," he said, offering their visitor the most reassuring expression he could, "it looks like we'll be working together." He extended his hand. "Looking forward to having you on the team."

Janine smiled and took Ash's hand. Giving him a delicate handshake she inclined her head slightly. "Thanks," she said. "This means a lot to me and you won't regret it. Well-" stammered. "I can't promise that you won't, but you know what I mean."

"So when do we start?" asked Brock.

"First thing in the morning would be best," said the girl in the hoodie. "The inoculations will take a few hours to kick in and given my father's specialization in poison types we can't afford to be unprepared." She held out her hand to Ash.

"What? asked the trainer.

"Give me one of the syringes," said Janine, gesturing for Ash to hand one over. "Just so you know I'm serious, pick one and I'll demonstrate."

SC

After adjusting sleeping arrangements for Misty and Janine to share a room, mostly at Brock's behest, the group of trainers spent the rest of the day performing only light preparation work. Everyone agreed that it would be best to take it easy and rest, saving up as much energy as they could for the following day. Ash, Brock, and Misty all took the opportunity to keep an eye on each other, making sure Janine's antitoxins weren't going to have any ill effects, despite Janine's willingness to double-dose in front of everyone to demonstrate the harmlessness of the compound. Ash and Misty took a late lunch to get away together for an hour, returning to the rooms to find both Brock and Janine alive and not trying to kill each other.

The four trainers all turned in for the night just after nine o'clock, alarms set for six the next morning. While Brock went right to sleep and, if his snoring was any cue, rested comfortably, Ash tossed and turned. Unable to get comfortable, the trainer sat up from his sleeping bag on the floor and stared at the wall for several minutes.

For a moment he wondered if it wasn't Haunter's ghostly presence making it difficult for him to sleep. Reaching out with his mind, he found Haunter, resting in Ash's backpack. Haunter didn't exactly sleep, but the ghost would go dormant for a few hours at a time and become fairly unresponsive. It surprised Ash actually that Haunter had chosen now to rest now, when the trainers were at their most vulnerable, especially after having been dormant almost all day and thusly missing Janine's intrusion. Ash stretched and decided that Haunter had earned a break. The ghost had after all been active almost nonstop since Jesse and James had attacked the Vermilion Gym.

_That's it, _Ash thought as soon as his mind touched on the subject of the Rocket agents.

Jesse had been constantly returning to his mind, or more accurately, Ash's actions concerning her plagued the Gym Leader. As much as he tried to put it out of his mind, Ash kept returning to his thoughts when he'd heard his enemy pinned under the debris of the collapsed building... he had, for a moment at least, seriously contemplated leaving the woman to her fate, and the memory of the thought made his stomach twist.

In a world like the one he called home, Ash thought, killing was a simple reality. Very few people living on the frontier hadn't in some way witnessed a violent death, and Ash was no exception. He had dealt out his share of suffering and ended a number of lives, but what had happened yesterday was different, he thought. Jesse was an enemy, and an extremely dangerous one, but she had been utterly helpless and that negated the fact that she was an adversary... it meant that for a moment she was just another person who needed his help...

_Didn't it? _Ash wondered. He pressed his palms to his temples as if trying to squeeze the questions from his brain. Should he have saved her? Did she deserve his help? Did it matter? The questions bounced around in his skull, until he finally shook his head and stood up. _Screw it,_ he thought, throwing on a black T-shirt and walking for the door. Quickly he checked his pockets and found some change.

Stepping out into the hall of bedroom doors, Ash quietly stretched and shut the door behind him, deciding to get a drink from the vending machine in the floor's common room. Only the quiet hum of the air conditioners and the soft moonlight from the window at the end of the hall accompanied the trainer since he had sent Pikachu to sleep with Misty. Ash turned his back to the window and walked to the door at the end of the hall, stopping to peek through the small glass pane in said door which allowed a narrow view of the common room.

Ash spotted the vending machines in the fairly dark room immediately and reached out for the handle but stopped short. The hooded figure sitting on the couch with her back to the dimly glowing plastic panels almost escaped his notice. Ash waited for a second, unsure of the person's identity for a moment, until he spotted the purple eyes, seeming to almost glow on their own under the hood.

Janine ostensibly didn't notice Ash as he waited on the other side of the door. The girl leaned back into the couch with her bare legs pulled up almost to her chest and a small book bound in leather open against her knees. The pen in her left hand scratched against the pages while her right held the paper taught as she wrote. Watching for a moment, taken off guard by the girl's wardrobe, or rather her lack thereof, Ash blinked. Now finding himself slightly more awake, Ash quietly pulled on the door's handle.

Janine looked up calmly, though her right hand dropped behind her back, and inclined her head when she saw it was Ash. "Can't sleep?" she asked in what amounted to her regular speaking voice, though the words still sounded like barely more than a whisper to Ash.

The young Gym Leader nodded and walked to the vending machine behind Janine's couch. "Not really," he said, scanning the selections and ultimately deciding that lemonade sounded refreshing. "You?"

The sound of the pen rubbing against the paper resumed. "I never sleep much," she answered. "There will be plenty of time for that later."

Sucking in the dollar, the machine clicked when Ash pushed the button, then rumbled quietly as the can of lemonade rolled down its shaft into the tray at the bottom. Reaching down, Ash grabbed the can, popped the top with a click, and took a drink. He turned around and leaned against the machine for a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of the scribbles in the book without actually spying.

"What are you writing?" he finally asked, giving up on making out the dots and lines.

"Words," said Janine, completely nonchalant before turning to glance at him with a grin as she pulled her hood back. "Letters," she went on before Ash could formulate a witty retort, "to a number of people. I'll never send them of course, but it's relaxing to write them nonetheless..." She paused and looked back down at the book before she went on. "I didn't get to say it earlier, or chose not to really, but thank you for helping me. It's kind of hard to believe I'd get this lucky, what with you and the others showing up out of nowhere and I promise that as soon as we're done here I'll repay you somehow."

"It's nothing," he replied. "We're on the same side and that's enough for me to trust you," Ash smiled., before taking a sip of the lemonade. "Who do you write to?"

"Lots of people," the girl answered amicably. "My grandfather, my mother, a friend in Saffron. Living here, I don't get to talk to most of them anymore but I still write to them."

Ash thought for a moment, something striking him as odd about writing letters you didn't mean to send. "Why won't you send them?" he asked. "Or go and visit your friends?"

She laughed once. "Well that would involve tearing the letters out of the book or-" Janine's hand jerked and she drove the tip of the pen down onto the book with enough force to rip a hole in the paper. The end of pen snapped and splattered a blot of ink across the page. "Damn it," Janine spat, making Ash jump as the girl in the hoodie moved to get the leaking pen away from the paper. She turned on the couch, planting her feet on the floor and holding the broken writing instrument over the trash bin beside the couch. "Goddammit." She threw the pen into the bin with a huff.

"What's the matter?" Ash asked, standing straight and leaning forward to help if need be.

"Nothing," Janine said, her voice returning to her usual affable, if cool, tone. "It's nothing."

Ash set the half-empty can of lemonade aside and took a step closer to the couch as Janine grabbed at her wrist. Her left hand trembled again and jerked into her lap where she clutched at it, pressing her fingers down into the upholstery as though she were trying to crush the life from her own limb. Her breathing remained even as she continued to restrain her hand. Several more spasms ran through Janine's fingers and wrist and she leaned forward to drive her hand deeper into the couch's cushion, all the while silent.

"That didn't look like nothing," said the trainer as Janine began to relax her death-grip on her hand.

Fingers steady, flexing both hands, Janine turned and looked up at Ash, her face completely unreadable behind a blank expression. The girl's hand continued to shake only a little and the twitching became less and less pronounced over the course of a minute or two. They stared at each other for a long time, how long Ash didn't bother to track. The trainer standing by the vending machines realized only after his pulse slowed just how on edge he had been. The edges of his vision seemed to blur back into focus and he felt the muscles in his gut relax. It was too early on a critical morning following a sleepless night, he decided, to be dealing with any more stress. When Janine sighed and leaned back against the couch, Ash dropped his hands into his pockets.

Ash cleared his throat to steady his voice. "I'd like to be your friend if you'd let me," he said. "And I'm trying really hard to trust you in hopes that you'll trust me enough for the two of us to work together against Team Rocket."

"Is that why you're helping me?" Janine asked, taking Ash by surprise when her hand shook again and she tucked it back between herself and the couch.

The young trainer nodded. "I once told someone that I wanted to show them what a better world really looked like," Ash said, recalling the previous day. "If I want to make good on that I need to show people that trusting a stranger doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"That's a dangerous gamble," Janine said, as much to herself as to Ash.

"Its why I'm trusting you," he answered. "And if you're being honest about this mission tomorrow then it's a gamble you've made too."

Janine looked at the book beside her leg for a moment, then sighed and carefully tore out the ruined page. She closed the cover and set the book aside. "I..." she said, pausing and looking down at the destroyed piece of paper. Janine patted her knees with her palms and slid her hands down the backs of her calves. "I'd like to trust you too. But things just don't work that way," she added quickly, looking up at Ash, almost apologetically.

Ash took a deep breath and sat down on the couch, a comfortable distance from Janine but close enough to reach out and touch her shoulder for emphasis. "Something's bothering you," he stated, his gaze gesturing to her lap where the girl's hands again held each other in white knuckled grips. "If you want me to leave it alone, then say so and I will," he continued. "But if I can help, I'd like to."

Staring up at Ash, Janine's blank expression melted away, replaced by a combination of speechlessness and lingering skepticism. Behind the vibrant purple eyes, Ash thought he could see her mind turning over on some complicated problem, so rather than interrupt, he remained silent and waited for her.

"You met me yesterday," said Janine.

Ash nodded. "Today act-" Ash began to correct before remembering that, being well after midnight, it was technically a new day. "Yep."

"That kind of mindset is going to get you hurt," she went on.

"I'd be surprised if it didn't," said Ash, again thinking back to Jesse. "But that doesn't make it wrong. I don't think the right thing to do has to be any more complicated than treating everyone else the way you'd want to be treated." He grinned a little. "You'll have to work with me on that one, it's a philosophy in progress and I'm still trying to reconcile it with fighting the bad guys and all that."

Not answering immediately, Janine looked away and thought for a moment. "Trust in a stranger. Sure, why not." she mumbled. "I'm sick... It's called Huntington's Disease and, well... you know those problems that go away on their own or get better with time?" she waited for Ash to nod before she went on. "It isn't one of those problems."

"I'm sorry," Ash answered, quickly scanning his memories, unable to place the name.

"Don't be," Janine responded. She smiled just a little. "It's not so bad yet that I can't do my part to protect people... and I can medicate away most of the symptoms. Plus I don't have to worry about giving it to anyone. It's not exactly contagious so don't worry."

"That's not quite what I meant," Ash responded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

A hollow chuckle escaped the girl's lips and she reached up to put her hand over her mouth. "Not really," she said, looking absentmindedly across the room and out the window. "It's just something I'm going to have to put up with until it... runs its course. I started showing symptoms when I was twelve," she went on with a withdrawn shrug, "which isn't too unusually early so I'm used to it. It's just inconvenient."

"Inconvenient?" Ash repeated.

Janine nodded. "While it can hit at any age, usually the symptoms show up between the ages of thirty and forty, at which point the person has between ten and twenty years before they can't function on their own. As a guideline though, the earlier the symptoms manifest, the faster the condition progresses. Of course I can keep drugging myself stupid to keep the symptoms under control, though at the rate it's going I'm thinking I have three solid years, maybe four, before it gets bad enough to put me at risk of screwing up in the field. And that is how I plan on going out," a small smile creased her lips and she turned to Ash again. "Doing what I do."

"You're being a little casual about this aren't you," said Ash.

"Trust in a stranger," Janine repeated. "Besides, you're the first person I've talked to about this outside my letters and now that I've said something it... it feels kinda good to talk."

"I'm glad," Ash said with a smile. "That's what friends are supposed to do."

"I suppose so," said the girl in purple. She turned to look at him and stood up, pulling the long hoodie down to cover the tops of her thighs. "But now, I think I'm going to bed. I could use another hour or two before today. Don't worry," she added, "I'll make sure nothing gets in the way of the mission."

Ash mirrored her and got to his feet, picking up the can of lemonade from the ground behind the couch. "Yeah, I'll probably turn in a little bit too," he said. "For what it's worth."

"G'night," said Janine, walking to the door on the opposite side of the room. She pulled it open and stepped halfway throuh before stopping and turning around. "Thanks," she said, looking over her shoulder. Maybe we can talk again sometime later."

Ash smiled. "I'd like that, goodnight," he answered sitting back down with his drink as the door shut behind Janine. He remained there on the couch for a few minutes, finishing off the now warm beverage and thinking. "That must take some strength of character I wouldn't have," he uttered to himself.

SC

Pulsing like a drum whose rhythm made her muscles ache and her nerves burn, Jesse's heartbeat thudded in her ears, stirring her from a restless sleep. Wincing back from the pain she tried to cloister herself off from all sensation, but the ache's return meant the drugs which held off consciousness were losing their effect. After what she thought must have been days, the burning in the right side of her body was simply too much to ignore, and she groped with her left hand for the little remote beside the hospital bed with which she could call the nurse.

Finding it a moment later, she clicked the little button. Nothing. She clicked it again, this time realizing that the buzzing that usually accompanied the action was missing. She opened one eye and licked her dry lips. "Nurse," she rasped, her vision blurring. "Nurse," she called a little louder when no answer came. "Can we turn up the drip a little?"

"She can't hear you," the cool voice disrupted the silence to her right.

"James!" Jesse started, instinctively trying to turn her head to the right. The screaming pain that tore into her neck and shoulders stopped her short. "You're back," her voice wavered, sounding unsure.

James stood up from the chair beside her bed and walked to the curtains drawn across the glass door. He cracked them with his fingers to look outside and quickly scan the hall beyond the windowless room. Given that no light shone through the crack in the thick cloth, Jesse could only guess that the hospital had turned out the lights for the night shift. Without a sound, James stepped away from the window and let the curtains fall back into place before turning and stepping up beside the bed.

"You're back early," Jesse said.

"What happened?" James asked, voice ostensibly void of curiosity or warmth.

Jesse felt her stomach freeze some. James already knew the exact outcome of the mission. "I lost control," she said.

"And?" James probed.

"I wasted resources and endangered the mission."

"You endangered the entire organization."

Jesse couldn't contain a small shiver that crept down her back. The venom in James's words had been palpable, only barely veiled behind the man's eternally icy demeanor. She could see the bags under her partner's eyes and the windburn on his face. He'd been flying hard and fast for quite a while if his cracked and scabbing lips were any indicator. "I'm-"

"I instruct you to capture Ketchum, alive and unharmed," James interrupted, his voice remaining steady, "so you blatantly instruct the police not to interfere in Team Rocket business, ambush Ketchum in the skies, and put on a show that all of Fuchsia could see. Then you let Ketchum carry you over the most heavily traveled bridge in the region to a public hospital." James's knuckles cracked in his gloves as his fingers tensed. "And then you leave it all for the organization to clean up. You leave it for me to clean up."

"I lost control, you know how I can be," Jesse's voice trembled as she lay helpless. A panicked smile smeared on her face, Jesse's eyes darted from one end of the room to the other. She was alone with James. "As soon as I get better-"

"The Administrator ordered me to kill you," James interrupted again, making Jesse's eyes go wide. "And he outranks me."

"James, please," Jesse visibly broke down in the bed. "Not like this. After everything we've been through, not like this."

"No," James leaned over the bed. "I don't think you understand. I cleaned up after you. I paid to buy off the important witnesses. Moreover, I took your case to Viridian and brought it before the boss, myself. Do you know what he told me?"

Jesse shook her head as carefully as she could, pressing her lips into a thin white line as the last vestiges of color drained from her face.

"He told me to stop wasting his time."

A nearly inaudible whimper escaped the wounded agent.

"And then I reminded him of everything we've done for him," James went on, his monotone unbroken. "Because sometimes people forget that the healthy human mind can't do what we do without consequences. Day in and day out, I reminded him, you and I do the things the organization has to deny so no sane person would have to bear the stress of what has to be done to protect humanity." James stopped and let the words sink in. "The boss gave you one more chance," he said, eliciting a quivering sigh from Jesse. "But," James went on, leaning down to speak quietly to her. "If you snap again, I won't be able to protect you. If you can't control yourself, I – Will – End – You."

James leaned up without another word and turned to the small machine sitting on the stand beside Jesse's bed. Pushing one of the little rubber buttons he released a dose of drugs that washed into his partner's veins. Jesse's pupils pulsed for a second as her vision blurred out to black and she closed her eyes, asleep. James casually walked back around the bed and sat down in the chair, folding his arms in front of his chest. Inclining his head slightly, he closed his eyes and went still.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – A Family Affair

Returning to the room a little while after his conversation with Koga's daughter, Ash found Brock already awake and sitting in a chair against the wall. The older Gym Leader looked up when Ash entered, grinning and raising an eyebrow. He shifted and put a small piece of paper on the nightstand.

"Snuck out for a midnight stroll with Misty?" teased Brock, emphasizing 'stroll' with finger-quotation marks.

Ash shook his head and shut the door behind him. "Just having a heart to heart with Janine, so to speak. What are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," answered Brock. "I spent half the night dreaming about all kinds of weird stuff. So I figured I'd get up and try to wake up before going down to get some breakfast at the diner across the street. You in?"

Ash checked the clock. "Are they twenty-four hours?" he asked.

Brock nodded.

"Sounds good," said Ash. "I'm going to clean up first, but I'll go."

Patiently taking stock of his pack while Ash took a shower and changed in preparation for the day, the older Gym Leader made a point to ensure none of his smaller valuables had gone missing. When he thought about it, the measure probably wasn't necessary as Janine had thus far given the group no reason not to trust her, but nonetheless, Brock wasn't going to take any chances. The hair on the back of his neck still stood up when he thought about yesterday when she'd come at him like a Gengar and scared him half to death...

Ash got dressed, choosing his flying clothes based mostly on the fact that even on warm days Fuchsia tended towards cold, and this early in the morning it was almost frigid outside. He and Brock left the Pokemon Center, finding only an empty street between themselves and the diner opposite the big masonry building. Still, out of habit he told Brock, Ash looked both ways before, during, and after crossing the street. In truth, the young trainer made a point to scrutinize the shadows lingering in the maze of alleys and side streets that seemed to constitute the whole system of travel within Fuchsia. Ash saw no shapes he could judge to be even vaguely humanoid, an observation that almost bothered him more than if he would have spotted hooded figures watching them.

A bell jingled as Brock opened the diner door and the smell of bacon, eggs, coffee, and pancakes slapped Ash in the face. The pair scanned the building full of empty booths and, seeing no one at the bar, sat at the counter. Brock rang the bell and the two immediately heard something crash in the back. A moment later a short woman with sharp features and dusty brown eyes came scampering out of the kitchen.

"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, rubbing the bags beneath her eyes and setting a dinged metal tray covered in tin plates and cups on the counter. "Caught me cleaning up," she said, pulling a pair of menus out from beneath the bar and setting them in front of the Gym Leaders. "Are you two going to need a minute?"

"I think so," said Ash as he and Brock picked up the menus.

"Alright hon, take your time," said the woman, picking up the tray and walking back to the kitchen.

Ash sighed and began looking over the colorful, two-sided, plastic sheet. He and Brock were both silent for a minute as they looked through the list of items, before Ash set his down and rested his elbows on the counter. When the waitress returned with two cups of coffee and offered them to the trainers on the house, both Ash and Brock eagerly accepted. While Brock drank his straight, Ash took the time to load his up with creme and sugar.

"Jeez," said Brock. "You want some coffee with all that extra?"

Ash shook his head. "No thanks," he answered. "I like it one part coffee, four parts everything else."

"Whatever works," Brock mumbled, finishing off the cup and setting it down with a content sigh. "So," he said, swiveling to face Ash a little more. "What's new?" he asked. "I mean besides the whole saving the world thing?"

"What do you mean?" asked the younger trainer.

"I mean how are you doing? How's life outside of being a Gym Leader? What's new with you and Misty," he asked. "I haven't seen you in more than a month and I wanted to catch up."

"Oh," Ash played up the realization like an epiphany. "Now I get it. Small talk."

"Exactly," Brock answered.

"I'm doing alright," Ash shrugged, then gestured with his thumb at the bandage on his cheek. "Maybe a little beat up, but no worse for wear." The younger Gym Leader gave Brock the five minute version of the past several weeks, bringing him up to speed on business in Vermilion. Ash made a point to emphasize that, with Vermilion's fishing industry booming like it never had before, the town would be more than happy to start shipping some of the extra preserved fish to Pewter if it meant holding off the food shortage a little longer.

"I'd appreciate that," said Brock, looking at the bottom of his empty coffee cup. "When I left I was trying to keep a lid on this but... all of our trade with Viridian has completely stopped," Brock muttered. "The grain they used to ship north to Pewter and Cerulean had just stopped coming. I sent two of my brothers to try and get the supply lines going again, but none of the plantations west of the city are even producing anymore."

"What?" Ash toned. "Since when? I knew that they hadn't been selling, but not even producing?"

"My brothers got back a week before I left. They reported that the plantations had been burned to the ground and someone had gone through and salted the fields," Brock went on as Ash's jaw dropped. "But it gets even better. We hadn't had any word at all from Viridian for some time and, I didn't want to say it in front of everyone earlier but, Viridian is on the brink of exploding. Their gym's stores are the only real source of food in the area and that isn't cutting it for some twenty thousand people."

Ash shifted and paused as the waitress came back and took their orders, then returned to the kitchen again. "I had no idea," he said. "How's Pewter handling it?"

Brock tapped on the counter with his knuckles, staring down at the bar. "I didn't want to start a panic, with anyone," he said. "So I've been trying to keep a tight hold on the flow of information, but those plantations were the bread basket for most of the western cities. Without that grain, Pewter is having to focus more resources than ever on just getting food. I mean, we've established several groups of police lead hunters who try to harvest some resources from the Viridian Forest, but that's dangerous and unreliable at best. Mt. Moon is turning out to be more and more valuable, but there's only so much we can get out of the Paras and Parasect living there without seriously affecting the population. Frankly we needed that grain."

"Can you farm the fields around Pewter?" Ash asked. "I remember them being pretty big."

"Big yes, fertile no," Brock responded. "The ground is too rocky and dry. We were trying to get some kind of agriculture going, but it's probably going to be extremely labor intensive and not very rewarding so I'm not holding out hope. We can maintain our current reserve levels thanks to the caves under the city and all the mushrooms that grow there but... it doesn't make for comfortable living."

Ash thought for a minute, looking up and thanking the waitress when she brought the plates of pancakes and bacon. "Could we get another couple of coffees?" he asked.

"I'll have those right out," she answered.

Turning back to Brock, Ash put a hand on his shoulder and shook him a little. "We'll set this right," he said. "Don't let it stress you out too much. We'll come through just like we've always done."

"It's not just about you or me," Brock answered, tone growing more sober than Ash thought he'd ever heard his normally easy going partner. "This is about all of Pewter. More than that, Viridian and Cerulean are at stake too. Kasumi sent me a letter saying that she was on the verge of authorizing her gym to hunt in Mount Moon to make up for the grain shortage. Cerulean can only draw so much from one lake, no matter how big, after all. If that happens then not only will it cut into what my men can harvest, but it would destroy the local ecosystem. Worse still, if they start cutting into our resources then my men might just decide that it's worth fighting over Mount Moon to put more food on their own tables...

"Not only do we not know whose responsible for destroying the plantations, we have no way of restoring them. The fields won't support agriculture for years, probably decades... and it's brought the three biggest frontier cities to the brink of fighting with each other over resources that were plentiful two years ago," Brock sipped from the coffee.

Ash took a moment to soak in the information. "No wonder you wanted to keep all that under wraps. Brock, I'll send a message to Baily and the City Counsil in Vermilion and tell them to start shipping whatever we can afford to Viridian, Pewter and Cerulean. Maybe we can start farming the land to the north to make keep the food flowing."

"Thanks," said Brock. "I don't want to be a burden, but we could all really use all the help you can spare. Damn I just wish I knew what was going on. My knee jerk reaction reaction is to blame Team Rocket, but even for them it makes no sense. Why would anyone, especially Rocket who had so much to gain from them, destroy the bread basket of the west?"

"I don't know," Ash mumbled. "Right now though, we need to focus on problems we can fix. The situation out west isn't so dire yet that people are rioting and starving to death in the streets so we still have time to reallocate resources. And, Team Rocket is still the enemy we know, they're still working on getting to the bottom of Cerulean Cave, and we still need to stop them. After we take care of that we can focus on fixing everything else."

"I wonder why they're still working on that," Brock leapt on the chance to change subjects. "They've had more than a year."

"Who knows," Ash shrugged. "Something is obviously keeping them out. Still, they have it-"

"So we want it," Brock grinned and finished Ash's sentence.

"Exactly."

By the time the two trainer's finished breakfast, a few people had begun to trickle into the diner. Both Ash and Brock agreed that it would be best to set off as early as possible and headed back to the Pokemon Center. Passing through the cafeteria on the way to their rooms, Ash and Brock found Misty and Janine sitting at a table and conversing over some empty bowls of cereal. It made Ash sigh with relief to see the two apparently getting along.

Both girls looked up as Ash and Brock neared, and set their silverware aside. Ash grabbed the bowls as Misty and Janine got up and moved to take them to the kitchen's conveyer belt. Misty followed him, hanging onto his arm. When Ash set the bowls on the belt, Misty reached up and put her arms around his neck to kiss him well within view of everyone in the cafeteria.

"Somebody's in a good mood," Ash laughed, putting his hands on Misty's hips and holding her against him after a long, head-turning moment.

"We've got a big day ahead of us," she said. Then her eyes narrowed only enough to let Ash know there was something on her mind. "Besides, I thought you could use a reminder of why you don't need to go sneaking around dark rooms with another woman."

Ash's face flushed but he managed to hold back a nervous chuckle, but Misty put a finger on his lips before he could respond. "Don't worry," she said, a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips. "We'll leave it right here and not worry about it again."

Ash nodded. _Don't say a word, _his brain ordered his mouth.

SC

An hour's hike took the party deep enough into the woods beyond Fuchsia that the trees and light underbrush swallowed up all signs of civilization. The terrain had sloped gently downward for a mile before dropping sharply into a vast basin utterly choked with trees, ferns, and mist. Standing at the top of the harsh slope, Ash, Janine, Brock, and Misty looked over the basin, none of them able to see its end.

"This is it," said Janine, peering out at the other trainers from under her hood.

Misty crossed her arms. "It's beautiful," she whispered, watching as the sun, just coming into view on their right made the thin mists seem to glow yellow and orange. "Does it have a name?"

"The Lavender Vale," said the girl in purple, "not for any particular reason other than it having belonged to Lavender a long time ago. Unfortunately this marks the extreme edge of the area the gym patrols and it's where we have to part." Janine paused as if she expected someone to speak up, but continued on when no one did. "If they were to see me with you they'd likely attack on sight so I'll take an alternate route."

"You're sure the markers will still be there," Ash asked.

Janine pointed down to the base of the hill and, following her gesture, the other trainers spotted a small stone obelisk. The structure, maybe ten feet high and two or three feet wide at the base sported a great number of carvings Ash couldn't make out from the top of the hill. "That's the first one," she said. "The path they marked faded long ago, but the remnants of the road should be enough to keep you on track." She turned and looked at Ash specifically. "See you on the other side," she said. Without any hesitation, Janine flung herself down the slope, skidding down the moist grass in a spray of dew and vanishing into the forest without a trace.

"She can make an exit," said Brock.

Ash looked between Brock and Misty, then glanced at Pikachu on his shoulder. Rubbing his hands together he took a deep breath. "Shall we?" he asked, stepping out over the slope and letting gravity do the rest. Immediately, Pikachu burst into a chittering fit and leapt to the level ground at Misty's feet. Taking long strides and fighting to keep his balance, Ash skated down the grassy incline and waved his arms about. Halfway down the forty foot slide, Ash's feet pitched out in front of his face and the young trainer suddenly found himself parallel to the ground. Muttering something unintelligible, Ash connected with the slope and began a rapid descent, only hastened by the slick grass.

Coming to the bottom and planting his feet on the ground, taking several leaping strides along the flat ground to avoid a complete wipe out, Ash huffed to a stop right at the base of the obelisk and leaned forward to rest his hand against it. "That was a bad idea," he muttered, feeling both the dew from the grass soaking through to his back and the stinging of several thin cuts on his elbows and forearms.

"Ash!" Misty called from the top of the slope, hidden from view below by the trees. "Are you alright?"

"Fine!" Ash yelled back, catching his breath and listening to his heart drum in his ears. About then he felt the pain of the impact with the slope seeping into his hindquarters and he stretched back to rub through his wet jeans. "A little sore!" he amended, walking back to the slope.

Looking up the green slide, Ash saw Brock slowly walking himself down via a rope the older trainer had tied around the trunk of a stubby tree. "Oh," Ash said to himself. "That might have worked a little better." Though the rope only reached three quarters of the way down the hill, it allowed Brock to skip the rest of the way down the slope with no trouble, and Misty followed behind him with even less effort while carrying Pikachu in one arm.

The redhead took a single, smirking look at Ash and shook her head as the little yellow Pokemon in her arms jumped back to its trainer. "Silly," she said, walking up behind him and brushing her hand down his back to clear away some of the debris. "These grass stains are never coming out by the way," she added. "At least you'll have some camouflage."

"Traitor," Ash sighed, reaching up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. He flinched when the rodent batted him on the nose with its paw and glared at him as if to chastise him. "I know, I know," said the trainer, grabbing a pokeball from his belt. "I'll give you some warning next time." Again Pikachu shook its head and batted Ash several times on the back of his head.

In a bright white flash, Ash released Arcanine from his pokeball and hopped atop the Pokemon's back. Scratching the eager Pokemon all through his flowing mane, Ash took a minute to welcome the canine back into action before turning to Misty and offering her a hand up. As Misty swung one leg over the Pokemon's back, Brock took a pokeball from his belt and snapped it open.

A low grumble, the sound of rocks clattering against one another, echoed through the trees as the light congealed into a massive quadrupedal Pokemon more than four feet at the shoulder and almost eight feet long. As the light transformed to heavy grey plates of armor accented by spikes and dull obsidian eyes set in a wide face, rock jumped onto the Pokemon and into the saddle lashed to the back of its shoulders.

"A Ryhorn?" said Misty. "Impressive. How long have you had him?"

"Her," Brock corrected, patting the Pokemon on the side of its head and settling into his saddle. "I found her on my last trip to Mount Moon actually. I went to scout out some of the entrances to the Deep Roads, making sure Rocket was really gone, and she came lumbering out of the dark like she'd been looking for me. Didn't you girl," he ran his hand along the rocky ridge over the Ryhorn's eye and the Pokemon cocked its head to expose more of its skull to him. "Ever since she's been my all-terrain Pokemon whenever I want to be up a little higher and more out of harm's way. Onyx is great, but sometimes I need a little more... subtlety."

"Subtle," Ash mulled over the word, looking at the Pokemon. "I guess."

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," Brock countered amicably.

Ash opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as the radio in his ear buzzed. "Go ahead," he said, reaching up and tapping the earpiece.

"Just making sure the radio works," Janine said on the other end as Brock and Misty went quiet.

"Loud and clear," said Ash. "How are things looking on your end?"

The radio remained silent for a moment. "I'm not sure," she answered. "I don't know if there's been some kind of trouble, but I haven't seen any patrols along the normal routes yet. I'm going to keep moving towards the mansion."

"Alright. I want radio silence from here on in unless something comes up or unless we go to Plan B."

"Acknowledged," said Janine, the radio going dead afterward.

Ash turned to his partners, Arcanine stepping around so Ash could face Brock. "Keep an eye out. No trouble yet but that doesn't mean we can relax. Let's move." Arcanine turned again allowing Ash to spot through the woods and try to locate the next obelisk marker. "That way," he pointed into the woods, seeing their destination.

As the party went quiet and began riding deeper into the forest, bathed up to their knees in thin mist, Ash reached out with his thoughts until he touched Haunter's consciousness. The ghost jumped with anticipation at the contact and floated invisibly out of Brock's backpack where it had been warding the Gym Leader against attacks from behind. Ash motioned with his eyes and thoughts, instructing the specter to patrol the woods around the trainers out to a radius of fifty meters and relay anything of any interest to the trainer. Giddy with excitement and barely able to contain an audible laugh Haunter raced out to the designated distance and began sweeping the undergrowth in expanding and contracting arcs.

"Keep your guard up," Ash whispered to Pikachu as the little Pokemon sat silently on his shoulder and scanned the surrounding woods for danger. Arcanine yipped quietly and constantly sniffed the air, his eyes darting from point to point in front of the party as Ryhorn, surprisingly quiet for a Pokemon lugging around a rocky carapace, marched behind.

They reached the second obelisk and stopped. All three trainers peered off into the woods and looked for the next marker. "There," Misty spotted it and pointed it out to the rest. Again the party quietly set off for the next marker.

As Ash, Misty, and Brock began spotting the markers more and more easily in the forest, traveling deeper into the woods as an our trudged passed, Haunter began relaying more and more information to Ash. The ghost had spotted some of the hidden birds that kept issuing the strange calls echoing all through the woods, and Ash flinched as Haunter decided to sample the colorful animals' flavor. Both Brock and Misty commented on how the woods got strangely quiet a moment later.

Another hour ticked by, and Ash began to wonder how far the uniform layout of the forest could continue. By now, finding the obelisks was more of a chore than anything else, and none of the Pokemon had spotted anything more threatening than songbirds. More than once, Ash drew out his thermal imager to scan the woods, but saw little more than his Pokemon.

A pang of shock nearly knocked Ash from Arcanine's back and he fumbled to catch the imager he'd dropped as Haunter's consciousness prodded his over their link. Gruffly Ash asked where the attackers were coming from, but felt only the ghost's laughter as it stated that it had found something and wanted the party to come see.

_Interesting..._ the word floated over the link. _Not far... this way._

_This had better be good,_ Ash thought. He cast about and located Haunter's general location and pointed. "What's that?" he asked as they reached another obelisk, despite not seeing anything.

"What?" asked Misty and Brock in unison.

"That," Ash feigned peering harder into the woods, pausing for a minute before rearing Arcanine around as Haunter came floating invisibly out of the woods to lead him. "I want to check it out."

"Another marker?" asked Misty, looking off in the direction of the one she'd already spotted as Ash and Brock both left their chosen path.

_Bigger,_ Haunter whispered to Ash.

"No," said the younger Gym Leader. "It's bigger I think."

A large, indistinct, shape began to take on form as the trainers strayed into the trees. Arcanine's lip curled up in a low snarl and the trainers stopped in their tracks. Ash could now see that in the direction Haunter led there was a massive mound of... something he couldn't make out. Arcanine's glare was directed elsewhere however, at a tree just in front of the travelers. Glancing over, Ash immediately spotted the crack smashed into the trunk, and the blood spattered all over that same side of the tree.

"Holy shit," Ash muttered, looking over the body slumped against the trunk, most notably, the skull smashed beyond recognition, and the chest ripped open what Ash could only imagine as huge, blunt claws. Through the caked, apparently long-dry, blood Ash could make out the mark he recognized as the Fuchsia Gym's motif. "I think I know why we haven't met anyone yet," he said, stepping down from Arcanine with misty and walking forward into the small clearing.

In a radius of a little more than ten meters, the canopy of the forest opened to allow sunlight to fall on the shattered and fallen trees. Any plant taller than a few inches had been torn up and tossed about like toothpicks. Huge footprints dug deep into the ground and divots pockmarked the grass everywhere. Scattered about the artificial clearing like bits in a butcher's shop, were a dozen human corpses, each rent and torn as badly as the first Ash had seen outside. None of these were what drew the three trainers' gazes however.

Heaped in the center of the clearing like a pair of burial mounds, two massive Snorlax bodies lay unmoving. Deep slashes and punctures marred their deep blue fur and exposed the hugely thick layer of fat beneath their skins, letting the smell of carrion and rot pervade the clearing. Their forms, even prone rested almost eight feet high and gave Ash, Brock, and Misty all reason to pause, even as Haunter began floating about and pointing out to a very nervous Ash that each of the bodies bore the tattoo marking them as Fuchsia's Gym members. The specter also noted that each carried a small coin purse but none of these were what had drawn the ghost's attention.

_Look behind,_ the ghost's ethereal voice floated over the link.

"This was one hell of a fight," Brock murmured. "Be thankful Snorlax only ever run in pairs.

Ash paced around the first body of the huge dead Pokemon, and for the first time heard the low, almost inaudible drawing of breath. His blood froze but Haunter pushed him to look while Misty and Brock both began picking over some of the corpses. Coming to the hollow between the two Pokemon, Pikachu on his shoulder and Arcanine at his back, Ash found the source of the quivering breathing.

"Pairs," he repeated. "Unless there's a baby." He knelt down as the shape right in front of him attempted to retreat, but found itself ringed in by its parents. The little Pokemon, all but identical to the larger Pokemon on either side aside from its pointier ears and slightly thinner frame. Measuring only two feet high the creature seemed diminutive to Ash compared to its parents. "Brock, Misty!" he called, his voice driving the Pokemon to cower. He drew out the Pokedex and pointed it at the Pokemon. "I found a survivor."

Misty and Brock both came jogging around the body. Brock drawing a small white box from his pack as he moved. "Where are they injured and who-" he asked, cutting himself off when he saw the little Pokemon. "Oh," he said, "a Munchlax... well I guess we know why the big ones fought to the death."

Misty remained frozen stiff. Glancing warily between the two huge bodies and the littler Pokemon, she worked to keep her breathing from becoming to labored as her mind involuntarily made its way back to the night Cerulean had come under attack by just one such monster. While Ash got to his feet, waiting for the "Data Sent" screen and closing the Pokedex when he saw it, Brock took a step back from the scene.

"Well, what do you want to do?" asked the older Gym Leader. "There's really nothing for us here, he patted the wallet pocket sewn into the vest beneath his armor. "And I'm not sure taking the baby," he gestured to the still cowering Munchlax, "would be the right decision."

Misty's breath caught as the Pokemon's eyes locked on her and she heard a pitiful little rumble escape its mouth. Immediately she turned to Ash and Brock. "We can't just leave it," she blurted. "It's just a baby. There's no way it could make it on its own with both parents dead."

Brock and Ash both glanced at one another, though it was Brock who spoke up. "We can't take it with us," he said. "Snorlax are dangerous and unpredictable. Frankly I've never even heard of one being raised in captivity without trouble, much less taught to fight for a trainer."

Stepping forward as Ash looked down at the blue Pokemon, Misty looked between her partners. "Neither have I," she said. "But I haven't ever heard of one being captured as a baby and raised by humans either. This might be a chance at just that."

Brock thought for a second. He couldn't argue that, even as traveled as he was, he'd never heard of a Munchlax being trained to fight from infancy... and this was indeed an infant, he glanced at the Pokemon as it tried to hide behind its dead parent. Neither however, had he heard of anything good ever coming from interaction with a Snorlax. "Misty, if there were any precedent I'd be all for it, but there isn't."

Ash put a hand on Misty's shoulder. "I'm not sure it's a good idea either," he said.

"Look at it," Misty muttered, pointing at the Munchlax. "If it weren't a baby I'd leave it too, but put yourself in its position."

Brock sighed. "It may go against everything I try to believe about Pokemon, but when it grew into a Snorlax it would be too dangerous to-" he stopped as the blue Pokemon, still taking quivering breaths and rumbling lowly, stepped out from behind its mother's head, and walked up to Misty. Looking up at her, the Pokemon extended its arms and embraced her leg. The girl knelt down and looked up at Brock as she put one arm around the Munchlax.

"Does it look too dangerous to you now?" she asked as the Pokemon buried its face in her shoulder.

Brock, and Ash for that matter, stood stunned for a moment but Pikachu put a hand up to his cheek and chittered uncomfortably, ready to unleash a bolt of lightning at a second's notice. Ash reached up however and patted the Pokemon's head. "Hold on," he whispered.

"That..." Brock thought aloud, "is really, really weird."

"I'm keeping him," Misty said, standing up and scooping up the Munchlax in one arm and went for a pokeball with the other. Grasping the orb that had remained vacant since Staryu's death, she clicked it open and the Munchlax disappeared into the flash of white light. "And that's the end of it."

Brock sighed again and put up his hands. "Alright," he said. "If you insist, I can't stop you."

Ash smiled a little and touched Misty's arm. "I knew you had a heart in there somewhere."

"Told you," she playfully punched his arm. "Ready to go?" the girl looked between her partners and the Pokemon.

"Sure, sure," said Brock. "Let's mount up."

Arcanine leading the way, Ash, Misty and Brock set off back into the forest. With a little help from Haunter they quickly found themselves back on the path marked by the obelisks and trekking deeper into the trees. Another hour passed before the ghostly scout again drew Ash's attention. Haunter continued to maintain a perimeter around the travelers, but it contacted Ash to warn him that there was a single human approaching them. The ghost relayed that the camouflage worn by the ninja seemed to shift and change color as the person moved through the trees, meaning that while Haunter's senses had picked it up instantly, Ash's might not be so lucky. Holding up a hand to stop the group, Ash peered into the woods and silently instructed Haunter to follow the scout.

"Hold on," Ash whispered, waiting for Haunter to follow up with what was happening.

Misty leaned forward. "What do you see?" she asked, scanning the forest.

A moment passed and Arcanine sniffed the air, nerves on edge, before Haunter again contacted Ash. The specter reported that the scout had closed within ten meters of the party and observed them from up in the trees, then turned around and left.

_Stay a little farther back,_ Ash instructed. _If anyone gets any closer than that last guy, knock them out of the trees for us._

The ghost nodded up and down and rushed out to keep running circles around the party. At the same time Misty put her hand on Ash's side.

"Nothing," said Ash, shaking his head. "I thought I saw something but it's gone."

"You have some kind of sharp eyes," muttered Brock as they all set off again.

They had barely gone half a mile before Haunter reported that the trainers were coming up to a sudden break in the woods, and by the time Ash thought to relay it to the rest of the trainers Arcanine had already stepped through the treeline into a big clearing. The expanse of open grass stretched out before the trainers, clean cut in stark contrast to the last clearing they'd encountered. Jutting up in the center of the field, a large mansion consisting of three visible stories kept vigil on the clearing. With at least a hundred meters between the house and the nearest tree, Ash couldn't help but wonder how Janine would, if she hadn't already, infiltrate the facility in broad daylight.

"Here we are," Brock said, walking his Ryhorn up beside Arcanine and looking over the house. His brown eyes focused intently on the faint path leading to the courtyard at the front of the mansion. "What was the plan again?" he asked rhetorically. "Weren't we supposed to just walk through some kind of killing field and knock on the front door?"

Ash nodded as Arcanine pawed at the ground a little and Pikachu hopped down onto the canine's head for a better look ahead. "All of a sudden," he said, petting Pikachu down the back, "I don't really like it either. But at this point we don't have too many options. Let's just do our parts." He tapped Arcanine's sides with his heels and set off into the field, angling for what looked like the main entrance.

Approaching the long neglected courtyard ringing off the main entrance, Ash and his companions paused before continuing. "I half-expected there to be traps or something," Ash muttered, both to Misty and to himself. "You think this is the right place?"

Misty shrugged. "Only one way to find out," she said.

The three trainers hopped down from their mounts, though no one yet entered the courtyard. Brock first returned Ryhorn to its pokeball while Ash waited with a hand running through Arcanine's mane. The youngest trainer's eyes scanned the front of the building as he tried to get a feel for what he could expect inside. If the other members of Fuchsia's Gym were anything like Janine, he thought, then the innocuous fading whitewash and grand wooden columns of the building's facade must have been hiding something sinister.

As he returned Arcanine to its pokeball, Ash reached down to the ground and picked up a small grey stone and chucked it into the courtyard before him. The bit of rock clattered along the broken cobblestones, the clinking and clacking seeming far too loud for the calm morning. Nothing happened and Ash glanced around at Misty and Brock. The three trainers shrugged at each other and walked forward in unison. As they reached the stairs to the small porch, the only obstacle remaining between them and the door, Ash again paused as Haunter floated invisibly up beside him.

_People,_ whispered the ghost. _Second floor. Hooded. Masked. Watching._

_Great,_ Ash thought. He reached for Haunter's attention. _Traps?_ he asked, though immediately he felt only the specter's uncertainty.

Taking a deep breath, ready to react to the slightest provocation, Ash stepped up the creaking stairs. As nothing happened he walked forward, raised his hand and knocked casually on the oaken frame. "I'm Ash Ketchum, Leader of Vermilion Gym, here to see Koga of Fuchsia!" he shouted, stepping back from the door and letting his words filter through the house. "Brock Takeshi, Leader of the Pewter Gym has come as well. We both demand and audience!"

A moment passed in silence. Ash took slow, quiet breaths as he waited for a response. When one finally came, from Haunter no less, the young trainer twitched in surprise. _Coming this way,_ Haunter whispered.

A loud metallic clicking filled the morning as some mechanism within the door came undone. With a soft creak and the sound of settled wood bending, the big doors began to slide inwards. Ash crossed his arms as two people, each wearing denim jeans and baggy hoodies stepped out onto the porch. Both individuals had their dark green hoods pulled up over their heads, but one wore an ostensibly eyeless mask the color of sand while the other left her face uncovered.

The young woman stepped in front of the masked figure and glanced between the three trainers. "It's an unexpected honor to receive you, sirs," she said with a polite bow. As she moved and her hoodie shifted, Ash noticed that rather than pokeballs at her waist she wore a short sword strung to a thick belt of leather. "If I may ask, what brings you this far into the wilderness?"

"Business with your leader," said Ash, making sure to keep his tone firm without being rude. He made sure to watch her hands as the green sleeves shifted farther down her wrists, almost of their own will it seemed, and hid her hands from view. "Is Koga here?"

The woman in the green hoodie turned to look at the man in the sandy mask before looking back to the visitors. "He is. Though I'm afraid if you want to see him you'll have to wait for a while."

"That's fine," said Ash. "Can you show us the way?"

"Of course," the woman bowed again and motioned for the trainers to follow her. "Please, come this way." Stepping inside and waiting as Ash, Misty, and Brock followed behind the man in the tan mask, the woman walked back to the door, closed it, and slid a lever mounted to the door into a locking mechanism fixed over the seam.

Inside, the smell of wood rot mixed with the odors of stagnant water and musty upholstery. Dim light dispersed throughout the long hall, originating from small oil lamps set on end tables placed at even intervals down the length of the corridor. The motes of dust hanging about the lamps like halos worked only to make the corridor feel even darker. Ash could see no windows or skylights anywhere, and the numerous open halls leading off from the entryway were all unlit, standing like the mouths of mine shafts.

The woman walked to the nearest end table and picked up one of the little lamps. Turning back to the three trainers she smiled amicably and stood unmoving. "The antechamber is just down this way," she said, turning to one of the side halls and waiting.

Ash glanced around, suddenly aware that the man in the mask had disappeared. From the looks on Misty's and Brock's faces, he guessed that they too had noticed. Nevertheless, he reached up and patted Pikachu on the cheek. The vigilant little rodent understood and hummed to itself, beginning to glow with enough intensity to light up everything within a stone's throw of Ash.

"You mind?" he asked their guide, pointing to the luminescent Pokemon.

"As you will," she answered, holding up the lamp and blowing it out before setting it back on the small table.

The mansion, large as it appeared from the outside, only seemed to grow bigger as the trainers followed the guide deeper into its confines. The house's halls, while even and built soundly, turned and curved at subtle angles. The rugs and darkly shuttered windows laid out at varying distances and the interspersed works of faded art gave the halls a notably congested feel without allowing the trainers a sense that they could take cover behind anything at all if the situation called for a fight. Often, just as often as not actually, Ash would pass by a column next to the wall and find that from his previous point of view the pillar had hid a narrow door only visible after he had walked by. More than once he'd seen shadows skirt out of the like cast by the Pokemon on his shoulder.

As they entered a large room, its walls lined with exits to other hallways, the guide stopped. Ash heard silence ringing in his ears as he realized that for the length of their walk through the house, their footsteps had been the only sound to hear. He looked around, partly to make sure that Brock and Misty were still behind him and partly to spot around for an ambush, but saw only the guide and his companions. Set about the open center of the room were numerous chairs and sofas arranged around small tables. Leading up to the second and third stories of the house, a massive open stairway on the far end of the room twisted up and out of sight, leading Ash's eyes to the huge pentagonal tarp stretched out over the ceiling above the center of the room.

"Feel free to have a seat," said the guide, gesturing to the many places to sit. "I'll inform Master Koga of your arrival." She quietly walked by Ash and Misty, leaving down one of the side halls and leaving the three travelers in complete silence.

Reaching out with his mind, Ash found Haunter sneaking up the stairs and told the ghost to keep a close eye on the indoor balconies overlooking the antechamber. When Haunter agreed, Ash turned back to Misty and sighed. "And now we wait," he said.

"And now we wait," Misty echoed.

Brock flopped down in one of the chairs whose cushions immediately erupted with with a choking dust. The Gym Leader leapt up as though he'd sat on a tack, coughing and sputtering. As Ash and Misty both waited with tensed muscles, Brock swiped at the air in front of his face to clear the dust.

"Phew," he laughed and coughed, eliciting a sigh of relief from his companions. "Somebody needs to call these people a maid."

The three trainers waited in abject quiet as the minutes ticked by. Haunter made its rounds about the three levels of the mansion immediately surrounding Ash, and returned to inform the young Gym Leader that, while it had come across several people, all of whom wore the same unremarkable denim jeans and cotton hoodies, Haunter had yet to find even a single pokeball. What was more, Ash thought, none of the other people in the mansion seemed concerned with the presence of someone there to meet with their leader.

Ash checked his watch, deciding that forty-five minutes of waiting in the dark was more than enough, and got up from the couch where he'd sat with Misty. The redhead looked up at him and stood up, as did Brock.

"Something up?" asked Misty.

Ash shrugged. "I want to get on with-"

"Mr. Ketchum, forgive my tardiness!" an echoing voice fell from the stairs and made all three trainers whirl on the source. Descending the heavy wooden steps with footfalls as light as a cat's, a man in plain khaki pants and an oxford shirt walked towards them. "But I was delayed by business with an old friend."

Ash took a moment to size up the new arrival, deciding almost immediately that, for someone possibly in league with an evil group of thieves and murderers, the man before him appeared nothing if not genteel. His honey colored hair, combed back and falling to his shoulders framed his face neatly enough, while his pressed white shirt and tan pants, accented by a black leather belt sporting a trio of pokeballs fit his ghostly pallor and lean physique like a well-tailored glove.

"No harm done," said Ash, walking forward to the man, both to shake his hand and allow Pikachu's light to better illuminate the individual. "Koga I assume?"

The man nodded and bowed. "At your service," he said. "Now to the chase, my apprentice informed me that you didn't just stop by to make my acquaintance. What can I do for you, Mr. Ketchum?"

Ash crossed his arms and leaned away from the middle aged man. "What do you know about Malebolge?" he asked.

A small grimace flitted across his lips before the blonde man's face returned to an affably blank mask. "That's outside my area of expertise," he answered. "I could tell you as much as any of the other Gym Leaders in the region, but with as far away as it is from Fuchsia, I'm content to leave worrying about that troublesome place to the Elite Four." He paused and looked between Brock and Misty before turning back to Ash. "Why?" he asked. "What's your interest?"

Before Ash could speak, Haunter intruded on the young Gym Leader's thoughts and informed him that during the brief conversation, more than a dozen of the people in masks had gathered around the balconies to watch. None of them carried pokeballs, but each was armed with a vast assortment of knives, shortswords, and other concealable weapons. Ash reached up and rubbed his brow. "I'm planning a mission to the lower levels," he said plainly. "I want to know what's down there and I need help from the other gyms to do it."

"Good luck, but I'm not going with you."

An uneasy laugh escaped the younger Gym Leader. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm not asking for an escort, just an endorsement."

"Alright, I'm with you so far," said the man claiming to be Koga. "But what would you get out of my backing you?"

"Two things," said Ash. "First, as you'd know, if I want to have a shot at getting by the Elite Four I'll need the unanimous support of all the Gym Leaders. Second and on a related note, I'm working to boot Team Rocket out of Kanto for good, but again, for that I'll need the support of most if not all of the Gym Leaders. Your endorsement would further both of my goals."

"I see, now," said the blonde man, raising an eyebrow, "tell me. Why would I want to help you take down Team Rocket? As far as I can tell they've done nothing but good in the Fuchsia community and I for one like having them around."

Ash could sense the insincerity in the words, both the man's suddenly mirthless grin and narrowed eyes betrayed the sentiment. The young trainer's breath caught as his hand twitched up towards his ear, but he stopped himself. "You're not a very good liar," he said with a sudden pointedness that made both Brock and Misty flinch. Ash looked up at the balconies looking down on the conversation and the masked faces watching him before he turned back to the man in front of him. "And something tells me you're not Koga either. You're too young."

"You must be mis-" the man stopped as Ash grabbed his collar and pulled him forward. His eyes went wide as Ash's fist slammed into his jaw and snapped his head backwards.

"Janine's been compromised!" Ash barked, throwing the unconscious figure in his grasp aside and snatching a pokeball from his belt. At the same time a screaming woman plummeted to the ground and crashed into the wooden floor with a shattering crack, Haunter's giggling overhead muted by the screams of surprise. "Go to Plan B!"

SC

Several Minutes Prior...

The rusted grate groaned in complaint as pale fingers forced it loose from its slot in the tile floor. Sliding the red metal aside and filling the bathroom with the grinding of metal on ceramic, the hooded figure's head breached the surface of the water standing stagnant a few millimeters beneath the floor. Despite the vibrant shade of purple coloring her face, Janine took a slow and quiet breath to relieve her burning lungs. As her vision vibrated for want of air she pulled herself out of the drain, barely able to wriggle her narrow shoulders through the hole. Gingerly replacing the grate, she looked around the filthy communal shower and stood up.

Taking the time to move carefully, as not to cut herself on the rusty metal that seemed to coat every sharp angle in the room, Janine stepped out of the shower and walked to the row of bathroom stalls. Finding the locked one she crawled underneath and found the duffel bag hidden behind the toilet. Removing the plastic bag from her pocket and checking the radio inside, she slipped it in her ear. Quickly stripping naked and throwing the wet clothes into the toilet bowl she removed the clean garments from the bag and got dressed. After pulling the middle of the hoodie down over her belt of weapons and tucking the ends of her sleeves around her wrists, she snuck to the bathroom door and listened. Hearing nothing she slipped into the hall beyond and snuck down the dimly lit corridor.

In the absolute silence of the mansion's restricted basement, her padded shoes sounded to her like iron-plated boots. The twitches running down the entire right side of her body did little to add to her efforts at stealth in the narrow passage. Coming to a single door at the end of the dead end corridor, Janine knelt and placed her ear against the rusted frame. Counting off the seconds she reached inside her pocket and drew out a small set of lock picks which she quickly began working into the door.

She jerked her hand away, hearing only the tiny hiss of air as a needle hidden in the door's frame shot out and clanged off the opposite jam. Sighing in relief, and to steady her hands, Janine set back at the lock, taking more than a minute to gently work the mechanism before it clicked and her tools met no resistance. Quick as a thought she opened the door and stepped inside.

The room beyond, contrasting violently with the dark hall outside, glowed from the light of numerous lamps hanging on the walls. The single spacious chamber bore the trappings of a comfortably furnished study and bedroom combination, sporting a bed piled high with blankets and furs, bookcases laden with a number of volumes, and a corner desk stacked with books and papers. Walking quickly across the rugs covering the stone floor, Janine grabbed one of the lamps from the wall and set it on the desk as she began riffling through papers and flipping through books.

"Got to be something here," she whispered, holding apparently blank papers up to the light and turning books to let the pages hang loose. Coming across a sealed letter at the bottom of a stack of books, Janine grabbed it and ripped open the top. Casting the envelope, postmarked from the Celadon City Casino, aside she pulled the single piece of paper free and quickly scanned it. Lip curling down into a scowl, she set it on the desk and leaned over it, her mind working in circles to decode the runes scrawled across the page. "Changed the code," she muttered. "Complicated."

Janine's thudding heartbeat counted the passing seconds as the nonchalant look on her face gradually faded to shock which melted into a white lipped scowl. "Father," she hissed. "How dare you..."

"How dare I?" the baritone smooth as olive oil rolled through the room.

Janine's eyes flashed, though she slowly straightened up and turned. As the trapdoor hidden in the floor behind the bed glided shut on silent hinges, a tall man in a purple traveler's cloak walked around the bed. "How dare I what?"

Janine, perfectly calm, held up the coded message. "I wanted to believe it wasn't you," she said. "I wanted it to be a trick or a ruse... anything but..." she met his steely gaze. "Why? For the Code's sake, why?"

Koga raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I don't think I understand what you mean," he said.

"Don't fuck with me!" Janine answered. "You gave Fuchsia over to Team Rocket, handed it to them on a plate, and tried to kill me when I started fighting back. Why?"

Koga's lips turned downwards. "I never tried to kill you," he said. "And I never made any effort to give Fuchsia to Team Rocket."

Janine ran her fingers along the belt hidden beneath her hoodie. "Quit playing dumb," she held up the message. "You have a contact in Rocket's Celadon base congratulating you on all your good work. 'You're reward is on its way.'" She shook her head. "Why would you lie to all of us? To me?"

"Always the clever one, so quick to leap into action," Koga responded as though his thoughts were far away. "Because you lied to me," he went on, "and I'm not going to watch you wither and die like I did your mother. You mean to much to me Janie."

A shiver bolting through her frame, Janine took a step back till she felt her legs bump the desk. "Fine," she said, eyes tearing up. "Fine. I don't-" she bolted forward towards Koga, drawing a knife from her belt and angling for his throat.

Hands lashing out like bullwhips, Koga reflexively caught Janine by the wrist and twisted her arm aside. As she spun around and bent her arm at her snared elbow, the girl went for another blade on her belt with her free hand, but Koga preempted the move with a solid kick to her ankle that dropped her to her knees. Grabbing both her wrists and locking her in place, Koga looked down at his daughter and shook his head.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" asked the tall man, twisting Janine's arms behind her back and pinning her against the wall.

Janine's answered by raking her heel down her father's shin and throwing all her weight against him. When he let go and stepped back she charged forward and grabbed him by the collar to pull him into a headbutt. Reaching between her arms and wrenching his hands outward to break her hold, Koga drew his foot to the side and kicked her in the knee. When she went down with a cry, he caught her by the elbows, spun her around, and dropped her again with a kick to the back of her right knee. This time he put his palm between her shoulders and shoved, forcing her to the ground.

"I'm not going to fight you Janie," Koga said calmly.

"You sure tried hard that night you ambushed my team," she said, turning her head. "You didn't hesitate to try to murder me."

"I wasn't going to kill you," he answered. "I just wanted to bring you back home."

"You killed my whole team!" she retorted, poise breaking into a scream.

"They were traitors."

"You're a traitor!" she shouted, rolling out from beneath him and kicking at his ankles.

Koga casually sidestepped the attack and watched as Janine rolled to her feet and picked up the knife she'd previously dropped. "You betrayed everything we stood for and sided with evil bastards like Team Rocket after swearing an oath to fight injustice no matter the cost! You swore an oath!" She rushed at him and swiped down for his neck. Again though, he batted her hand aside like he would a meddlesome fly.

"And I'd break it again..." he said, catching the hilt of the knife between his hands and twisting it out of Janine's grip. Dropping the weapon and kicking it aside so that it stuck point first in the post of the bed, Koga grabbed Janine's throat with one hand and her wrist with the other and again pinned her to the wall. "Janie, I will not watch you waste away like I did your mother, I will not," his voice remained perfectly even as Janine struggled futilely in his grip. "You're more important to me that anything... even the Code."

"So you know about the Huntington's?" she asked, struggling through the iron grip to form the words.

Koga nodded. "I know that's why you went to Saffron when you were twelve and why you've secretly been buying drugs wholesale." His eyes flitted to the twitch shaking her right hand. "I also know the medicine isn't helping with the symptoms as much as it used to and you've got a less year before you're bedridden and helpless."

Janine sucked in a struggling breath. "Then you've got to know there's nothing anyone can do."

"Not true," Koga shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Team Rocket can cure you. I've seen the results myself, seen the people they've saved with their technology. There's a cure Janie."

Janine froze and her heart began thrumming harder in her chest. "How is that possible?" she asked.

"I only know that it is," answered her father. "Janie, Team Rocket is working on something big and they need my help. They knew about your condition and they went to a lot of trouble to find a cure for you. You can be free of it Janie, you can live a normal life. You don't have to die." He paused and let go of her, putting a hand on her shoulder when she didn't try to fight back. "If not for yourself," he went on, "think of me.

"Nine years I had to watch your mother slowly die, her mind withering into nothing right in front of me," he said voice quivering only a little. "And when she was gone, I had to live knowing that it could happen to you. Then to find out that you... had begun showing the signs so early and that you'd be gone so much sooner because of it." He stopped and his lips pressed together. "Janie, don't make me live through that, please. Come with me to Celadon. Accept the cure and we can be done with all this."

Eyes wide, Janine stared at her father. Frozen she took a slow breath and licked her lips. "But we'd have to work with Team Rocket," she said, "to get this cure?"

Koga nodded. "Only for a little while," he answered. "Then we could leave and start somewhere else. We could go north or, or west."

Janine took a breath and looked up at Koga, face twisting in conflicted thought until it finally broke and tears began streaming down her face. "Dad, I'm so sorry," she whispered, opening her arms and walking forward to embrace him. "I'm so sorry."

Koga knelt and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "It's alright," he said. "It will all be well in the end- hrk!"

Koga's eyes went wide and the muscles in his neck bulged as his daughter gripped the Soul Badge on his breast and tore it away. Janine stepped back, raising her foot, and planted it in his chest, shoving him away from her with a swift kick to his ribs. As Koga stumbled back and reached behind his back, Janine held her open palm, red with blood, up beside her face. Pulling her sleeve away from the miniature crossbow which had, upon firing, ripped through the purple fabric of her hoodie, Janine pulled the cocking mechanism back and loaded another bolt.

"Janie," Koga gasped, pulling the heavy bolt from his back and throwing the bloody implement to the ground. "You're not thinking right."

"No," said Janine, leveling the weapon at her father and putting her free hand on the trigger. "No I wasn't. I should have done this the instant I saw you."

Koga shot forward like a bullet as Janine fired. The bolt caught his gold earring and tore a hole through the lobe of his ear, but he reached his daughter before she could ready another attack. Grabbing the crossbow and ripping downwards, he tore the straps holding it to her arm and threw the weapon across the room. He tried to twist out of the way when he saw Janine going for the side of his head with her elbow, but a shock of pain from his back paralyzed him. Koga's vision flashed white as Janine slammed him in the head. A second later he realized he was stumbling and caught himself on the edge of the bed.

"Ash!" Janine shouted, raising her hand to her ear and pressing the button on the radio. "Go to Plan B." She dropped her hand and spotted around the room.

Janine grabbed a shortsword mounted on the wall and rushed Koga. Reaching inside his cloak, the older man drew out an egg painted with black pitch. Smashing it in his hands he threw the egg at Janine and the small orb disintegrated in a cloud of debris that caught the girl in the face. She tripped over her own feet, the cloud of pepper burning her eyes and nose, and wiped at her face with her sleeve as Koga stood up and moved for the door.

Depth perception gone, only able to look with one eye, Janine jumped in front of Koga and slashed at him with the sword. He leaned back and under the blade, swinging his fist into her wrist and breaking her grip on the weapon. The sword clanged to the ground but Koga swore in pain, the dark stain around the deep puncture in his back growing larger every second.

"Janine!" he barked. "Stop this. The disease is clouding your mind. Listen to me and think!"

"It doesn't matter what I think!" Janine yelled, stomping the hilt of the sword to flip it into her hand. "I know it's my duty to kill a traitor!" She crossed the two yards between herself and Koga in a leap as the man shot out the door and into the hall.

Koga whipped around to slam the door behind him, but the blade of the shortsword held the portal open. The blade snapped between the rusted steel and the jam, but Janine kicked open the door and jumped into the hall. Gasping as Koga's knee drove into her ribs and knocked her off the ground, Janine crumpled against the wall but kicked off the concrete surface and swung the broken sword at Koga. The truncated blade caught Koga across the chest and tore open his cloak, drawing a line of red across the wall. Following through, she swept downwards and drove the broken edge into Koga's thigh where it stuck. Koga grabbed Janine's collar and slammed his forehead into her cheek. The flash of pain made her vision blur and her head spin, but the girl reflexively reached out and twined her finger's behind Koga's head. Wrenching forward she brought his head down and her knee up and smashed the two together with a force that made her whole body jolt.

Koga staggered back, clutching at his face as Janine crumpled against the wall, the girl shaking and reaching to the flat surface for support. Koga took the sword sticking from his leg and tore it free without hesitation. Reaching into his cloak as Janine recovered her footing, her seizing abruptly abating, Koga crushed another black egg in his hand. Arcing his fist through the air he pitched the egg at his daughter and again caught her in the face with the resultant cloud of fine-crushed pepper.

Blinded, having sucked in a deep breath, Janine dropped to the ground and wheezed as the pepper and something sharp and biting burned and tore at her airways. Coughing and heaving to clear her throat and nose, Janine spent precious seconds pawing at her eyes and wiping away stinging tears. Looking up from her hands and knees she scanned the hall and tried to locate her father. Handicapped as she was, body beginning to shake and threatening to seize up, she quickly located the droplets of blood leading down the hall and through a door at the end. Forcing herself up to her feet, Janine felt along her belt for a weapon but found nothing.

She grabbed the broken, blood covered sword as she ran after the blood trail through the door at the end of the hall and around a sharp corner to another blind turn. Taking a deep breath and coughing, Janine fumbled to a stop at the dead end and the ladder which lead up to a hatch in the ceiling.

"Damn it," she muttered, knowing full well that the emergency exit lead out to the mansion's main grounds. Worse, she knew she didn't have a key to open the hatch. "Ash," she said, reaching up to the radio. "What's your condition?"

The device buzzed as Ash came on the line. "We're alright," he answered. "Everything's under control up here in the main hall. How're things on your end?"

Janine paused for a minute. "Well-" she wished the hall had been large enough for her to unleash her Pokemon on her father, then decided that would have meant he could do the same to her. "I'm on my way up."

SC

Sitting on the piano and scratching Pikachu behind the ears, Ash turned as he heard footsteps patting down the hall to his left. Brock and Misty both looked with Ash as Janine rounded a corner and stepped into the large room. The three trainers had torn down the shutters keeping the hall submerged in black and the late morning sunlight now streaming in glinted of the wet blood still clinging to Janine's forehead.

In stark contrast to the girl in purple, Ash, Brock, and Misty all looked more or less untouched. Sitting atop his Ryhorn and flanked by his Golem, Brock kept watch on the nine people standing in a line against the wall with their hands above their heads. Misty, Starmie, and Vaporeon stood between Brock and Ash while the redhead casually glanced between the prisoners, all of whom had been unmasked and disarmed.

"Did you find anything useful?" asked Ash, hopping down from the piano and passing by Charizard and Arcanine to meet Janine as she walked into the room. He paused when he got a good look at the bruises coloring her face and the raw skin circling her eyes. "You alright?" he asked.

Janine nodded. "I've been worse," she said, looking passed Ash at the prisoners. "You surprise me," she nodded to them. "You only killed two?"

Ash felt Haunter's chilling laughter echo in his head. "I would have tried to save more," he said, "but things got a little chaotic. So what are you going to do now?"

Janine stood motionless for a second, then walked passed the young Gym Leader and stood next to Brock's Ryhorn. Clearing her throat loudly enough to ensure she had the undivided attention of the captive gym members, Janine went down the line and looked each one of them in the eye. "I'm going to give each and every one of them the chance to make up for unintentionally betraying the Code," she said, more to the captives than to Ash, "since I know that none of them did it knowingly or willingly. They're going to help me drive Team Rocket out of Fuchsia and as soon as that's done we'll see where it goes from there."

"Ma'am," said one of the prisoners, a short man with unremarkable features and a messy mat of brown hair. "Forgive me but what's going on here? Where's Koga?"

Janine turned to address the man in the green hoodie. "Escaped," she said. "Koga is a fugitive and a traitor to the Code. He abused his power for selfish reasons and tricked you all into working for Team Rocket." She paused as a quick mutter circulated through the line of prisoners. "Now that I'm calling the shots however we can fix all that. Understood?"

No one in the lineup disagreed and everyone either nodded or uttered a quick "Yes ma'am."

One woman in a silver hood gave Janine a quick salute and nodded. "If I may," she said, "and if it's not too bold to say, it will be good to get back to the way things used to be, and it'll be even better to have you back full-time ma'am." Another quick mutter of approval and agreement ran through the lineup.

"Good," Janine said, turning to Ash, Misty, and Brock. "I'm sorry," she went on, mostly to Ash. "I misunderstood the situation and I didn't mean to put you three in danger, but I appreciate your help nonetheless, even more really."

"I'm just glad we could help," said Ash.

Janine smiled, reaching as though she were going to pull her hood over her head, but stopping short. "As promised," she said, walking forward and grabbing Ash's hand. She opened his fingers and dropped the stained Soul Badge in his palm. "You'll have the full support of Fuchsia Gym as soon as I can clean things up here."

"Do you need help with Team Rocket?" asked Misty, stepping up beside Ash.

"No," Janine answered. "You three should head to Celadon and check out the casino as soon as possible. I know for a fact Team Rocket is operating a base there that controls most of their interests in Kanto. If you can shut that base down then it will be a big step towards taking them out for good."

"I'll see what I can do," said Ash. "Are you sure you don't want help here?" he asked, casting a wary glance at the prisoners.

"The sooner you get to Celadon the better," answered Janine. "I'm confident in my men. We can get the job here done."

The captive in the green hoodie put his hands at his side, eliciting a warning growl from Arcanine. "It could get bloody, ma'am," he said. "Rocket is trenched up nice and tight in our city and they're not going to leave without a fight."

"I never said there wouldn't be bodies when we're done," she answered. "All I said is that we're going to do it."

"Yes ma'am."

Ash took a deep and reached up to accept the radio as Janine offered it back to him. "So I can' count on you to back me to the Elite Four when the time comes?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Janine nodded. "And if you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

After a quick round of goodbyes and Brock mentioning that their group might as well set off for Celadon immediately, the three trainers left the mansion with Janine watching their departure from the porch. Once they'd disappeared into the woods, she turned back to the open doors and motioned for the other gym members to follow her. At the same time, Ash and Misty, both atop Arcanine, discussed with Brock the most direct route to the second largest city in Kanto and the best route to get there.

* * *

AN: To answer a few messages from last chapter, the mess to which I referred in the previous installment was my crippling inability to take anything seriously or focus on one thing at a time. Trying to work on a second story while continuing on the first means that neither one gets as much time as I'd like, but still gets done to my own satisfaction.  
Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Peace!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Celadon City

"So have you picked a name yet?" asked Brock, leaning up against his dozing Rhyhorn and relaxing in the afternoon sunshine. "Or are you just going to call it Munchlax?"

"I haven't decided," Misty answered. Sitting against Arcanine and playing with the Munchlax she'd taken in a few days earlier, Misty held a couple of twigs over the blue Pokemon's head, flicking them about as the Munchlax lazily tried to snatch them from her grip. When it finally succeeded, mostly because Misty let it, the girl pointed the little Pokemon towards a nearby bush and patted it on the rear. Without hesitation the Munchlax waddled over to the bush and began tearing the plant apart, devouring it one branch at a time.

Standing off in the clearing, with Pikachu resting atop his head like the hat Ash had lost in his fight with Jesse over Fuchsia, helped Pidgeot stretch her wing out to one side. Her progress had been faster than the young trainer had ever anticipated, and already Pidgeot could utilize almost half of her full range of motion. If she tried to apply her full strength of course, the bird quickly found that her wing simply couldn't obey her, so she settled for Ash's amateur physical therapy, content for now and cooing happily to be out of her pokeball.

Arcanine hadn't taken its eyes off the newest Pokemon added to the party, however the big canine's anxiety over the Munchlax's arrival had quickly faded to mild curiosity. Pikachu on the other hand, had yet to adapt, and watched the Munchlax like a mouse would a lazy cat.

"Grandpa told me about this cousin of his once," said Ash, turning from Pidgeot to address Misty, "a big guy who trained a Rhydon. His name was Ozymandias or something like that and when he was working with grandpa at Indigo Plateau the two of them were ambushed by a Snorlax. Ozzy's Rhydon managed to beat it almost single-handedly and drive it away from the city. Given what you're trying to do that seems appropriate."

Misty mulled the name over in her head for a second. "That's a long word," she said. "What about something shorter... 'Oz' maybe."

"Sounds good to me," Ash shrugged, putting his hands behind his Pokemon's shoulder and helping her stretch her wing back.

The group of trainers picked up their journey later in the day and decided to ride through the night. Given their proximity to Celadon and its famously pleasant weather, Misty and Brock had both suggested that the party travel during the morning, evening, and early nighttime hours to take advantage of the napping opportunities provided by the afternoon weather. Ash thought the idea seemed silly and unnecessarily risky, but couldn't argue with the results. Something about the air as they neared Celadon seemed to set the young Gym Leader almost completely at ease... a feeling he was neither used to nor inclined to enjoy.

Traveling towards the dipping sun, Brock informed Ash and Misty that if they made good time they could reach Celadon by late the next morning. They'd have to travel across the city to get to the Pokemon Center, but that would take them directly passed Celadon's department store, a location Misty was all too eager to visit.

"We're not made of money," Ash reminded her as the girl hung onto his waist, sitting behind him on Arcanine and detailing all of the stores she planned to visit. "So don't go too crazy."

"I won't, don't worry," said Misty. "Besides I'm not planning on buying much of anything at all... maybe some new boots, a belt, a new backpack, and a cloak. I just want a few things for the road. The rest will all be nothing but window shopping." She sighed and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "But, it will be nice to be back in civilization. It'll be even nicer when we can get back to Vermilion and stay there for awhile," she mused as Arcanine plodded along next to Brock and Rhyhorn.

"How long is awhile," asked Ash. "We just spent a whole year in one place."

"I know," said Misty, watching as the forest slowly rolled by. "But we were always working and always worrying about the next crisis that might pop up. There was always that threat of Team Rocket coming back or something going wrong... I mean I can't wait until things calm down, once we beat Team Rocket and can settle down for a long time."

Brock smirked, ready to comment, but Ash beat him to it. "I don't think I'll ever completely settle down," said the young trainer. "Peace and quiet are nice, but there's always going to be more work to do. There will always be ways we can work to make the world a better place and ways we can keep pushing things forward."

"I know that," said Misty. "But don't you think it would be great if, once Team Rocket is taken care of, we could just relax?"

Ash shook his head. "That might work for some people," he said. "But I don't think it would ever make me happy."

Misty bit her lip and leaned up a little. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Ash shrugged and looked up at the sky. "The whole time we were in Vermilion, you're right, we were always working and always trying to put out the next fir before it popped up. Not a minute went by that we were hanging on by any more than a shoestring and it was tiring, hard, beleaguering work, but I loved it. The challenge was great to overcome and the reward of seeing the city beginning to prosper again made it all worth it. But then towards the end, things started to get calm again. The fires started coming less and less often and everyone started to get the sense that things were going to be OK."

Brock laughed once. "Well isn't that a good thing?" he asked. "Hell, you have no idea what I'd give for that feeling in Pewter."

"It's a good thing," said Ash halfheartedly. "But I went to Vermilion to beat Surge and get the recommendation I needed for the Elite Four, which I did. We stayed on to help fix the city, which we did. So once the city was on the right track, what was I doing there except taking up space?"

"Helping people," Misty pointed out, "and taking it easy."

"Maybe," said Ash. "But why would I want to take it easy when there's so much to be done elsewhere?"

"Because you earned a break," said Misty.

"But I don't want one," said Ash.

As Ash and Misty began going back and forth on the virtues and shortcomings of taking a rest from trying to save the world, Brock steered Rhyhorn to the head of the group and focused on leading the party west. He listened in on fragments of the conversation behind him, amusedly wondering why Misty wouldn't just come out and say that she wanted to settle down.

SC

"That..." Ash muttered, standing beside Misty and Brock, red light flickering off his eyes and casting a crimson glow on his features, "is not what I wanted to see..."

The sun had yet to rise, but the sky to the west had already filled with dull red light, choked as it was by pillars of smoke rising out of Celadon City. The metropolis, densely packed as it was, covered the entire floor of the fertile valley between Saffron's hilly terrain and the mountains separating it from the coast, though the legendary beauty of the city's lights paled in the wake of the riot gripping the metropolis. From their vantage on the steep hill half a mile to Celadon's west, the party could see the dozen unorganized mobs roving like ants through the city, hurling projectiles that set buildings alight and scattered the riot police who were clearly on the defensive.

Brock held Rhyhorn's stubby reins tightly as he reared her around. "Still want to go shopping?" he asked, pointing at the city's twenty-five story department store. The shopping center, Celadon's signature structure, smoked and fumed like a giant torch stuck in the middle of the city as its upper levels burned and filled the sky overhead with an ominous rusty hue.

Ash turned and faced his partners. "Well, what do we do?" he asked.

"We could skip this and go straight to Saffron," said Misty.

"Where's Erika?" asked Brock, scanning the scene. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Gym Leaders supposed to quell unrest like this?"

"Maybe she tried," said Ash. "Keeping order in all of this might be hard to do without using lethal force."

The three trainers watched for a half an hour longer as the the mobs gained even more control of the city and the police began pulling back as far as the Gym in the southern district. Ash got down from Arcanine and pulled a pokeball from his belt, holding it a moment longer. Over the next twenty minutes the distinct groups of rioters began congealing into one mass as the mobs met in the streets north of the gym. Clear battle lines began to form as a temporary lull in the chaos gave both sides time to prepare for the coming onslaught.

"Well I don't know what started all this," said Ash, snapping open the pokeball and releasing Charizard in a flash of light, "but I don't see any Pokemon on either side down there and the riot's getting out of hand."

"Where are you going?" asked Misty as Ash handed her Pikachu and swung himself into Charizard's saddle.

Ash strapped his legs to the Pokemon's side with the heavy leather bands as Charizard snarled it's disapproval. "To do a little crowd control," he tapped Charizard's flanks with his heels and lurched into the sky with a beat of the Pokemon's sprawling wings. Scanning the streets beneath him as Misty and Brock disappeared into the background, Ash took stock of the crowds advancing on the Gym with shouts and screamed profanities. Molotov cocktails flew from the mob into the line of police, most crashing against riot-shields and bursting with little effect on the ground before the officers, but a few arced over the wall of men and washed several of the police in flames.

_You,_ Ash directed his thoughts at the ghost hiding in his backpack. _Stay put and don't do anything. _Immediately Ash felt Haunter's disappointment echo across their empathetic link, though the ghost promised to remain concealed.

"We're not trying to kill anyone," Ash said, watching as as the police threw back the first onset of the rioters with a heave of their shields. "Just try to scare the hell out of them." He angled Charizard for the gap between the battle lines and lurched in his saddle as the Pokemon flared its wings, leveled off, and landed with a tremendous roar directly between the rioters and the police. Charizard reared back on it's hind legs, standing well over twice the height of the tallest man present, and snapped its wings out at its sides. With another bellowing roar, the Pokemon threw its head back and spat a column of flame into the sky.

Holding himself up in the saddle and watching with a measure of satisfaction as the line of rioters broke instantly and ran back to put some distance between themselves and the dragon, Ash spurred Charizard with a tap from his heels. The winged Pokemon leaped forward, landing just behind of the still retreating line of rioters, and lashed out with his wings to sweep the feet out from under several people in the mob. As the entire crowd began to scatter before the dragon, Ash reined Charizard back. The Pokemon again stood up to its full height and arced its neck over the mob. A third time it roared, belching out a cloud of acrid smoke that overtook and nauseated a dozen fleeing people.

"Good," said Ash, watching as the rioters scattered for their lives. "No casualties," he scanned the street and, finding no bodies, turned to the line of police. Flinching, Ash resisted the urge to wheel Charizard around, seeing that from the line of shields more than a dozen armored men, armed with crossbows, had stepped forward and trained their weapons on him.

"Step down and surrender," shouted one of the officers near the middle of the line, not lowering his weapon. "Or we will fire on you!"

Ash held his ground and sat up taller in the saddle. "My name's Ash Ketchum," he responded, "Vermilion's Gym Leader. I'm here to see Erika."

Several of the men with the crossbows looked amongst themselves but held their weapons on Ash. "I don't give two shits if you're Lance himself," answered the first policeman, who Ash could now see wore a uniform more decorative than functional. "You've violated Celadon Law by bringing a Pokemon inside the city limits without the mayor's consent. You are hereby placed under-"

"That will be quite enough, captain," someone shouted from behind the line of officers. "Lower your weapons, immediately!"

All of the armed men quickly stepped aside and turned their crossbows away as a figure, dressed in black and gold O-yoroi armor and sporting a bronze mask made in the likeness of a snarling demon, strode to the front of the line. Carrying a strung bow slung over a shoulder and long sword in one hand, the figure reached up and undid one of the straps holding the mask in place. The bronze facade dropped to one side, revealing the young woman beneath as she faced Ash and looked between him and his Charizard.

"Well, get down from there if you want to talk," shouted the woman, sheathing her sword and putting her hands on her hips. "And if you don't put away your Pokemon the police will have to arrest you." She turned around and addressed the ranking officer in the line of police, speaking too quietly for Ash to hear.

Ash undid the straps holding his legs in the saddle and stepped down, patting his Pokemon's neck and returning Charizard to its pokeball. Fastening the little orb to his belt he crossed the short distance between himself and the woman in the ornate armor he extended his hand. "Ash Ketchum," he introduced himself, meeting her gaze as she turned back to him. "Erika?"

"Lady Erika, if you'd please," she said, her tone softening without growing warmer. "Or simply Milady if you'd prefer. You are in _my_ city after all."

Ash inclined his head. "Then you'll have to forgive me," he said, retracting his hand, "but I'm here on business. Do you have time to talk?"

Erika looked around as the line of police reformed behind her, setting their shields in place as if they were ready to receive another attack. "The riot has died down for now," she said, turning and walking through the officers, who parted to let her pass. "We've been granted a reprieve in part because of you, so I'll receive you in a moment."

Ash followed behind her, taking a deep breath and steeling himself. _She's even more of a stuck-up princess than I'd heard,_ he thought.

Celadon's Gym, from the outside, could barely pass for a defensive structure at all. Taking up almost a whole city block and constructed from panes of glass set in what Ash thought to be a flimsy looking metal frame, the main structure of the building consisted primarily of a greenhouse filled to the brim with all manner of exotic plants. It wasn't until Ash stepped through the front doors that he saw the true purpose of the densely packed foliage. Hidden behind the panes of glass, which were themselves more than six inches thick and supported by massive oaken pillars, the foliage obstructed all outside view of the wooden fort constructed in the center of the expansive complex.

"This is where you must wait," said Erika as they approached the fort's gate. The heavy doors swung open on creaking hinges and five men dressed in armor similar to their mistress's stepped between Ash and the other Gym Leader. "I'll send for you when I have time."

"Of course," Ash crossed his arms and waited as the heavily armed men escorted Erika inside the fort, closing the gates behind them. The young trainer sighed and looked around at the jungle all around him. Several minutes passed before he realized how profoundly quiet the greenhouse seemed. Listening as closely as he could, Ash could hear no sounds except the dull hum of activity within the fort. "There's not a single Pokemon in here," he mumbled, the revelation contrasting violently with the encounter he'd expected from Erika's reputation as an animal lover.

Almost half an hour went by before any sound at all caught Ash's attention. He turned as Misty and Brock, announced by the shifting of the crisp grass beneath their feet and escorted by a pair of police officers, made their way to him. Before any of the trainers could say a word, Pikachu leapt up into Ash's arms and, chittering angrily, batted him on the nose.

"I know I know," Ash groaned as the little yellow Pokemon climbed up onto his head again. "And this is really the last-last time I'll leave you behind."

Pikachu nodded as if to confirm the thought, before sitting up and scanning the surrounding forest.

"So how'd it go?" Misty asked. "Did you convince her to see things our way?"

"Not exactly," Ash answered, reaching up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears, instantly winning back the Pokemon's affection. "I haven't actually gotten a chance to talk. She went inside and said she'd see me when she had time."

"Ah, well," said Brock. "That's Erika for you. Gym Leader or not, she's still technically a princess and she knows it."

"How is she a princess?" asked Ash. "We never really covered that."

"It goes back to Lavender's old empire," began the Gym Leader. "After they migrated here from the east and set up the city of Lavender they began expanding westward by setting up castles and forts. Those gradually grew into the three core cities of Saffron, Celadon, and Lavender itself. When Lavender collapsed, the responsibility of leading Celadon and Saffron fell to each city's regent. Even though the monarchies quickly gave way to more democratic governments, Erika is still from that line so if nothing else she has a lot of money and influence."

"And the attitude to back it up," said Misty.

"Speaking of," said Brock, "Ash, what's all this about it being illegal to have Pokemon within the city limits without the mayor's say-so? Did you hear anything about that?"

Ash nodded. "Yep," he answered. "Using Charizard to save the cops from the mob earned me a pretty cold welcome."

All three trainers turned as the heavy hinges creaked and the wooden gate slowly opened. On the other side, four soldiers wearing identical armor made of strips of lacquered wood stood at attention. Carrying tall spears and small shields that clinked as the soldiers began to move, they stepped forward and the tallest of the men, a soldier in red armor, turned to Ash.

"Lady Erika will see you," he said, voice muffled and distorted by the bronze demon mask concealing his features.

The three trainers stepped forward, but stopped cold when all four guards took a quick step back, raised their shields, and lowered their spears. Misty and Ash both jumped away from the soldiers, but Brock stood his ground. The older Gym Leader grimaced and turned to Ash.

"I think what they mean," said Brock, "is that Erika will see you, Ash specifically."

"Lady Erika mentioned only one visitor," said the guard in the bronze mask, still pointing his weapon at Brock's chest.

Ash glanced between Brock and Misty, but walked forward to the gate as Brock stepped back. All four guards lowered their shields and straightened up. "I'll be back," he said, handing a perturbed Pikachu to Misty, and turning as the four guards positioned themselves around him and lead him into the fort.

As the gates closed behind him, Ash looked around and tried to get a feel for the fort. The wall closed off about a third of the greenhouse's interior, and ringed in ten wooden buildings. The tallest of the structures, a three story house with widely sloping eaves that grew narrower with each ascending tier, stood at the far end of the fort, protected by its own wall which had been integrated into the main defensive structure. The guards lead Ash towards the tiered structure, passed no fewer than two dozen armored men who stood at the ready all around the fort. Most of them glanced at Ash with only passing curiosity, though more than a few glared at him with suspicion.

_So she lives in a temple,_ Ash thought, looking up at the pagoda. _Interesting._

Stopping at the pagoda's gate, the soldier in the bronze mask stepped forward and knocked four times. A small door in the side of the gate opened and the four guards lead Ash through. Beyond the wall, lit by several torches set low to the ground, an expansive garden of meticulously arranged flowering bushes lined the stone walkway that ran to the wooden porch.

Stepping over the threshold, Ash raised his hand to shield his eyes from the dazzlingly bright light of the temple's entry hall. As his sight adjusted, the young trainer looked around the hall, wondering for a moment if he'd stepped into a temple, a palace, or some combination of the two. Everywhere, lavishly upholstered furniture sat neatly arranged around pieces of art and low tables. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and lamps lined the walls, brightening the long room to something nearing noontime daylight and leaving Ash completely baffled by the gilded glitter of everything in sight.

"Lady Erika will see you in the rear garden," said the masked soldier. "That way." He pointed straight down the hall, passed the several closed doors on the adjacent walls, to the one open door on the opposite side of the room. Before Ash could thank them for the directions, the four soldiers turned and walked back to the porch, leaving Ash alone in the silent hall.

Crossing the hall and walking to the open door, Ash cautiously stepped through and into a small garden protected by a wall of white stone and lit by shaded lanterns. Thin rows of flowering plants marked out a sitting area in the center of the garden where, atop a carpet of manicured grass, there sat a single low table and two women knelt around it.

"Hello?" said the trainer, suddenly feeling completely out of place. Studying the two women more closely he realized he recognized neither. Both wore pale kimonos of a golden cloth, ornamented with images of dragons and tigers, and held small saucers and cups of some steaming drink. One woman, by far the younger of the two, looked up and acknowledged Ash with a nod. Immediately Ash recognized her and approached the table.

"You'll forgive my lack of decorum earlier," said Erika, setting her cup on the table and motioning for Ash to sit, which he did. "You caught me unprepared for visitors."

"I'm just glad I showed up when I did," said Ash, sitting cross-legged and resting his hands on the table. "I realize it's late and I don't want to take up too much of your time, but what's going on here?" He glanced to the side, noting the old woman sitting perfectly statuesque, hands folded over the handle of a sword resting in her lap.

"Civil unrest," said Erika. "It boiled over yesterday morning, but tension has been building for months."

"Over what?" asked Ash.

"A great many things, but we can speak on that later if you wish, after I've had a chance to rest," said the young woman. "You said you were looking for me so I'll assume there's business you want to discuss."

"About that," said Ash, shifting to keep his leg from falling asleep. "What do you know about Team Rocket and their casino here?"

Erika pressed her lips together and looked at the woman beside her. "Mr Ketchum, did you journey here alone?"

"No," Ash shook his head. "Actually my two companions are at the gate. The guards insisted they not come along."

"Taeko, go and see to Mr Ketchum's companions. Get them rooms for the night," ordered Erika, looking at the old woman. "And then order captain Murot to station our guards with the police outside. Don't allow anyone in or out."

The old woman stood, bowed, and left without a word. As soon as the door to the garden shut, Erika sighed and reached up to rub her eyes.

"This is all too bothersome to trouble with formality," she said, pulling the pin from her hairdo and letting her atramentous locks spill down to her shoulders. "So I'm going to trust your reputation as an honorable man. Why don't you tell me whatever you think I should know," she said.

Ash shrugged. "Alright," he said. "To begin with, I'm investigating reports of Team Rocket's illegal activities. My sources in Fuchsia pointed me to Celadon with information of Rocket controlling the gaming center here and using it as a front and a base of operations. If that's true, then I can only imagine how much money it nets them."

"That's not exactly common knowledge," Erika smiled.

"So you already know?"

"Please," said the young woman. "I know my own town."

"Then you've got to know what they're up to," said Ash.

Erika's grin remained fixed and she shook her head. "Honestly," she said, "I don't. I've of course heard rumors that they've operated some shady organizations in the past, but I've never seen any evidence for that here. To the best of my knowledge, Team Rocket has committed no crimes in any place that falls under my jurisdiction. If anything they've done nothing but help the local community."

"So if I asked you for your permission to investigate the Game Corner..."

Erika covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. "Pardon me," she answered. "I'd inform you that I couldn't in good conscience allow it, even if there was a a Game Corner left."

"What?" Ash leaned forward. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. Team Rocket's casino burned down," the Gym Leader explained. "When the riots began yesterday morning, one of the first places the mob looted was the Game Corner. They tore it apart looking for any money or food they could find. When things got out of hand with the security and the mayor and I sent in the police it devolved into pure pandemonium. By the time it was all said and done, the Game Corner and half the surrounding block were on fire."

Ash took a second to process the information as Erika sat patiently.

"But," said the woman in the kimono. "That's not to say that there wouldn't be something left unharmed by the fire in one of the Game Corner's basements. If you really want to go looking for something, whatever it may be, perhaps we can strike a deal."

Ash looked up from the table. "And what would that involve?"

Erika stood up and walked to one of the small glass windows set in the garden wall. After staring out for a second, she turned back to Ash and cleared her throat. "Haven't you noticed that for a Pokemon Gym, there is a rather obvious lack of Pokemon here?" asked Erika.

SC

"Why can't it ever be simple?" asked Misty. Sighing and crossing her arms, she sat down on the bed's thick mattress and dropped back into the plush comforter. "Why does there always have to be a catch?"

"Everybody wants something," Ash shrugged.

"We're not mercenaries," Misty griped. "There's more to us that go to location 'A' complete task 'B' and collect a reward."

"I know, but unfortunately we're not anywhere where we have much authority," Ash reminded her. "Our hands are pretty much tied."

"So what does she want us to do?" asked Brock, leaning against the wall of the expansive bedroom.

"I can actually think of things a lot harder," Ash said, shifting around. "A few months ago when the old mayor died, the city council appointed a new one to the office until the old one's term was up. Then, the new guy started instituting a bunch of laws about what trainers could and couldn't do in Celadon. Finally it got to the point where having a Pokemon in the city limits was essentially illegal and even Erika and her supporters had to leave theirs at the police station..."

"We noticed," muttered Brock.

Ash looked over at the older Gym Leader. "I completely forgot," he said. "How did you get around that?"

"I told the police officer trying to arrest me that I was a Gym Leader," said Brock. "When I said that I was _not_ going to hand over my Pokemon he said he'd make an exception. Misty just pulled out the charm," he nodded to the redhead.

"I was charming, wasn't I," Misty grinned.

Shaking his head for a second, Brock turned back to Ash. "Anyway," he said. "What's the job?"

"Simple," Ash answered. "Erika wants us to publicly denounce Mayor Vicar, and say that being the Gym Leader and the descendant of the old regent, Erika alone has the right to run Celadon."

"Ha!" Brock exclaimed. "Simple... how about stupid. Gym Leaders are supposed to protect the people, not rule them. We might make some big decisions but its always with the consent of whoever's really in charge."

"Pewter and Vermilion are two of the most stable cities in Kanto, and people know it," Ash went on. "Celadon, to say the least, is not, and Erika thinks that if she has our backing that she could take over as both mayor and Gym Leader."

"Her head's up her ass," said Brock, his voice rising. "If that spoiled little princess thinks that she's fit to take over just because she comes from a wealthy family then she needs a lesson in reality."

"In exchange," said the younger Gym Leader, "she's more then willing to give us her recommendation to the Elite Four and her permission to search the remains of the Game Corner. To top it all off we stand to make a very powerful ally... I think it's a good deal."

"So do I," said Misty, sitting up. "All we have to do is call some politician an idiot and be done with it."

"And what if there's fallout?" asked Brock. "What if the police step in to stop her and it turns into a fight?"

"Then we step in to stop them," Misty countered. "If none of the cops have Pokemon then there's not a damned thing they can do to stop us."

"And if they try?" Brock pressed. "If it turns into a fight, a lot of people could get hurt."

"And it will be the mayor's fault for trying to deny Erika her right to rule," Misty said. "Or at least that will be the story. And once Erika's supporters have their Pokemon back, then it will really cement her in place as Celadon's leader. All she'll have to do is throw some favors around to keep the populace happy and that'll be that."

Brock stared at Misty for a moment as Ash stepped back to let the two of them argue it out. "Are you sure," Brock said, glaring across the room at the girl on the bed, "you can call yourself _ex_-Rocket?"

"That's too far," Misty's voice dropped, growing as icy as her stare. "Erika's basically royalty. She's a proud brat but that works to our advantage since it means that she'll be too proud for Team Rocket to try and control her. She won't need money or influence, which are the only two things Rocket could try to bribe her with. She'll think she's above them."

"We already know from Janine that Rocket has agents in the city," argued Brock. "They might be able to control it even without Erika's help."

"If an angry mob just burned down their base, then it's safe to say that Team Rocket doesn't have a strong grip on the city," said Misty. "We should do whatever we can, as quickly as we can, to completely remove it from their control. If that means turning the city over to a bratty princess, then I say go for it. Whatever hurts Team Rocket."

"What if she makes things even worse," said Brock. "She could," he faltered.

"Worse how?" Misty got up and crossed her arms. "Worse than being controlled by Team Rocket? We all saw how well that worked in Vermilion so I'm going to go out on a limb and say even Erika couldn't fuck up worse than that."

"It sets a dangerous precedent," said the older Gym Leader, tightly grasping his hands. "Gym Leaders are supposed to support the government, not run it or try to overthrow it."

"You're serious..." Misty muttered. "You seriously believe that? Brock, look at every city in Kanto. There's a city council or a mayor or something, sure, but everyone knows it's really the Gym Leaders who hold the real power anyway."

"That's not true," said Brock.

"Sure it is," Misty answered. "In Viridian it's the gym that's sustaining the city by feeding the people since there's no other power to speak of. In Cerulean my sister has the fishing and construction industries, Cerulean's entire economy, bought and paid for. Ash," she gestured to the trainer, "ran Vermilion like a king. The city council did whatever he asked, whenever he asked, no questions asked. When Saffron's civil war cropped up and the city government completely collapsed, it was Sabrina who stepped in with her own private army to restore order. Even here, the only reason Erika lost her power is because she went along with the mayor and now she regrets it. Need I go on?"

"She could be working for Team Rocket," said Brock, trying not to sound defeated.

"Trust me," said Misty. "If she were, she'd be a lot better off and wouldn't need us. Team Rocket likes to keep the Gym Leaders in their pockets very happy. This is a golden opportunity to strike while the iron is hot," she went on. "And we need that recommendation."

Both of them going quiet, Brock had no rebuttal and Misty felt no need to press the issue. Misty's words seemed to echo silently off the walls and lavish furniture, until Ash cleared his throat and stepped into the center of the room. Sitting on the table and grabbing an apple from the bowl he tossed it between his hands for a second.

"Brock, I don't want to twist your arm," he said. "If you don't want to do this then please, don't feel like you have to."

"I just," Brock sighed. "I don't want to support the rise of a monarch."

Misty shook her head and stepped up next to Ash. "Kanto is ruled by monarchs," she said. "Erika would just bypass the facade of democracy and be honest about it."

Ash glanced at Misty and patted her on the arm as Brock put his hands on his knees and forced himself up to his feet. "I get it," he said. "I don't like it, but I get it." He took a deep breath and held up his hand as Ash tossed him the apple. Brock caught it and looked at the fruit. "If you're in so am I."

* * *

AN: And suddenly I wish I couldn't feel my throat. Oh well, twenty minutes of solid power shouting to scare the holy hell into / out of the new cowardly dude at work will do that. Oh well, the look on his face when the boss told me I could chew him out was priceless.  
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Small World

"Could you please humor me," Ash grumbled, hand over one eye as he sat in front of Erika's desk, "and define enormous," he drew out the last word before taking a deep breath.

Erika shrugged and remained sitting perfectly still as she looked between Ash, Brock, and Misty. "Somewhere between eighty and one hundred," she said. "All of them heavily armed, with the company containing as many as ten trainers."

"Fuck me," Misty laughed. "We promised to help put you in power, not fight a war." She turned to Ash and put a hand on his shoulder. "We were outnumbered before and counting on reputation to make sure we didn't have to do any fighting."

Brock stepped forward and positioned himself slightly behind Ash. "Are we sure the mercenaries are hostile?" he asked, looking to Erika and ignoring the older woman who stood beside the princess with one hand on the hilt of a sword, "Or even who they're working for?"

"I'm not positive," the self-proclaimed empress answered. "However I'd be surprised if they weren't working for Vicar. My scout couldn't muster the courage to go and ask the army on our door whether or not they're on our side."

"Remember that fallout I mentioned," said Brock, glancing sideways at Misty. "This is the sort of thing I was worried about. This is why Gym Leaders don't announce to a city that they're taking control of the government. Especially," he focused on Erika, "when said government was elected legitimately. It tends to come across as incendiary language to call the mayor illegitimate."

"And when did I give you leave to question my means?" asked Erika, as calm as ever.

"When you stood on the steps of City Hall and nailed what was effectively a declaration of war to the door!" Brock took a step forward, fists clenched at his sides.

"Relax, both of you," Ash barked, looking back at Brock, then forward at Erika before leaning back in his chair and tapping his fingers on his knee. "What's done is done and we'll get through this one way or another," he said as Brock went silent behind him and Erika shifted in her seat. The young trainer stared out the window behind Erika's desk for a long minute before taking a deep breath. He tried to no avail to simply enjoy the evening sunlight shining into the office. "We've got the police mustering at the department store," he said, " and a mercenary army camped on the road to the east. I don't think three trainers and thirty soldiers armed with swords and bows are going to cut it, princess."

"If we had more trainers," said Misty, "then we might be able to pull something off, so why is no one suggesting the obvious? We break into the police department and steal Erika's Pokemon back."

"Because that would be dangerous," said Brock, waving one hand in the air, his tone biting. "And we don't want to put the princess in any real physical danger."

Ash again turned in his chair. "Brock," he said, his already humorless voice growing icy. "That's enough."

"Of something at least," the older Gym Leader crossed his arms.

"Anyway," Misty interjected, stepping between Brock and Ash. "What I want to know is why we haven't taken the obvious course and gone after the gym's Pokemon."

Erika nodded. "My thoughts exactly," she said, "which is why I was hoping I could convince the three of you to do just that." She waited for any of the other trainers to respond, and went on when they remained silent. "I told you that when the police confiscated my gym's Pokemon, they moved them to the police department for safe keeping. Now think about it. The police station was hit hard during the riots because most of their forces were here, defending me. That means that there are two places that Vicar might be keeping my Pokemon."

"The police station, under a token guard," Ash finished her thought, "or at the shopping complex with the rest of his troops."

"The latter would imply that they plan to employ my own Pokemon against me and my men," said the princess, "a foolhardy notion at best... for them at least. The former scenario entails the police either splitting their forces or leaving my Pokemon unguarded. In either case it's good for us and bad for them."

"Or they've moved them out of the city," Brock offered.

"Another possibility," said Erika. "But if that were the case then it would likewise require them to divide their forces or risk leaving a great liability unguarded and in transit so I doubt they'd go to the trouble. Better to leave them in a relatively secure location under what guards they can spare than to risk moving them."

Ash leaned forward and put his hands on the desk. "All this to say that we need to do some recon work."

Erika smiled at him. "If you'd please, I'd appreciate it very much," she said.

"Alright, if that's what it takes," said Ash. He stood up and faced Brock and Misty. "You two will check out this mercenary camp and I'll go investigate the police station. If I can't find your Pokemon there," he looked to Erika, "I'll see about slipping into the department store. In the meantime, get as close to the camp as you feel you safely can... no unnecessary risks."

"Hold up," said Misty. "Why are you going solo?"

"Because if things go wrong at the camp then you'll be outnumbered," Ash answered. "I want both of you there to back each other up. Besides, I think we all know I'm the stealthiest of us." He grinned, or tried to at least. The laughter echoing in his head, Haunter's unsettling and inaudible giggle, made the expression hard to fake.

Brock shook his head. "Arcanine, Pikachu, and Charizard," muttered the older Gym Leader. "Real stealthy."

"Onyx," Ash countered.

"Vaporeon," Misty interjected.

"Backup," Ash pointed at Brock.

"Backup," Brock pointed to Ash.

"We're not arguing," Ash pointed at both of them, voice gruff. "Brock, investigate the mercenaries. Misty, you're going with Brock and I don't want to hear another word from either of you. We're heading out tonight. Understood?"

Brock and Misty, both standing with eyes a little wider than usual, only nodded.

"Alright," said Ash, sitting back down opposite Erika. "Brock, pack up whatever equipment you think you'll need to spy out that camp. Misty, see what you can do to help him."

Brock nodded and turned to the door. "I can do that," he said.

Patting Ash on the shoulder and turning towards the door, Misty smiled at the younger trainer. Ash grinned back up at her and put his hand on hers before she left. As soon as the door closed behind them, Ash took a deep breath and turned back to Erika. He reached down to the floor beside the chair and touched Pikachu's head with his fingertips, prompting a surprised and happy chitter from the quiet rodent.

One corner of her mouth twisting upwards, the girl in the kimono leaned forward and put her hands on the desk. "So you can be forceful when you need to be," she said. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I don't like having to be this way," said the trainer. "But I don't have too many options. Now," he shifted and leaned back in the chair, hoisting one ankle up to rest on his knee. "I've been here for two days and you're already making your move against Vicar... I didn't want to say anything in front of anyone else, but," his eyes narrowed, "what were you thinking?"

Erika's smile dropped away though her countenance remained decidedly nonthreatening. "Explain to me why I should explain myself to you," she said, tone civil if cool.

"Because I'm doing your all the heavy lifting here," Ash answered.

"All according to our arrangement," Erika responded. "In exchange for your services, I offered both my recommendation to the Elite Four and permission to search the remains of the Game Corner. I can't recall allowing you to question what moves I choose to make."

Ash felt a hot stinging well up in his stomach. "We're decisively outnumbered," said the trainer, fighting to keep his tone as respectful as he could. "You're asking me to risk my friends for you. The least you could do is give me a little information. I think you're forgetting, princess, that if I decide to walk away, you will be completely and utterly fucked."

Finding himself in a staring contest with Erika as the girl went quiet, Ash uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. The action immediately prompted the statuesque woman beside the princess to shift closer to the girl, hand still on her sword. Ash twitched and quickly looked at the old woman, having almost forgotten about the princess's bodyguard .Pikachu's getting up to his feet kept Ash calm. The little Pokemon hopped up into his trainer's lap and faced the duo across the desk as Ash straightened up.

"You're under a lot of stress," said Erika at last. "I can understand that and I'll try to account for it."

"Thank you so much," Ash muttered. "Now would you care to explain what you were thinking when you walked up to City Hall and nailed that declaration to the door? Brock was right, Erika. I don't know how things work in Celadon, but anywhere else, calling the perfectly legitimate mayor a usurper and announcing that it's your express intent to take his place might be a taken as a little... extreme."

"Isn't that exactly what I intend to do?" asked the princess.

"Well," said Ash, "yes. It is, but you were anything but subtle or cautious about it. Not to mention that you hardly gave me time to prepare for whatever you plan on doing."

Erika stood up, drawing a wary glance from her elderly bodyguard, and turned to face the window. "Celadon is almost out of time," she said. "I don't know for sure if you've noticed, but," she glanced back at Ash, "my city is dying."

Ash felt he missed the impact Erika meant her words to carry. "A couple of riots and some civil unrest doesn't mean a city is a goner," said the young trainer. "Saffron fell into a literal civil war, and they've bounced back. Vermilion was on the verge of tearing itself apart in desperation when I arrived, but they're back on their feet now."

"No." As Erika turned around and stood framed by the window, the princess shook her head. "You don't understand the situation," she went on.

"Then tell me so I'll know how to help," said Ash, the burning in his stomach abating.

"The rioting is just the city letting off a little steam," said Erika. "For as much damage as everyone caused, that's noting compared to what's coming next..." She slipped her hands inside her kimono's flowing sleeves. "The city is too big," Erika said, more quietly. "Even before all this business to the west with the food shortage, my city was living on a hand-to-mouth economy."

Brow furrowed, Ash tried to read the princess's posture. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "How big is too big?"

Erika grinned a little without looking at him. "Do you know how much food two million people eat in a day?" she asked rhetorically. "Or how much water they drink? For that matter can you imagine how much water it takes just to keep every bathroom in Celadon running properly? Now try to think about all the resources we have devote to pumping all that water in from up north, keeping the pipelines protected, guarding the reservoirs, protecting the powerplants that feed the pumping stations that pump all the water, maintaining the plant, protecting the supply lines that provide the plant with coal.

"Now imagine the resources I need to devote to buying the coal that we burn. Imagine what Celadon has to spend on the lumber we buy from Cerulean, the stone we buy from Pewter, the salt and lime we buy from Viridian, the copper and sulfur we buy from Vermilion, the textiles and iron we buy from Saffron. And here's the best part Ash... all of these wonderful materials that Celadon, the most beautiful city in Kanto, needs to run... we buy them all on nothing but credit... credit that's already run out."

Ash shook his head a little. "You'll have to help me out here," he said, trying to suppress the acrid taste of his words. "I'm just a poor kid from the frontier."

"That money in your wallet," said Erika, pointing to his pocket. "Every single banknote and each and every coin came from Celadon. That's it," she clapped her hands together. "That's how we do it."

"Do what?" Ash asked.

"Buy everything that keeps Celadon running," Erika said. "We buy things with the money we print. My father and Vicar came up with the plan decades ago to stabilize Kanto's wider economy by providing everyone with a standardized form of currency, so they built a mint here in Celadon and began marketing the simple currency to other cities as a way to make business easier for everyone. After that Celadon, which was already a big town thanks to its location and status as a giant of trade, exploded with what was effectively an unlimited supply of cheap money.

"Celadon owns the mint, which acts as a bank and makes easy loans to the city's citizens, who then buy whatever they want from whoever they want outside of Celadon. Using the goods they buy and yet more loans from the mint, the citizens set up businesses based on consumption, because with all the money they could want, everyone in Celadon became a big consumer. Before you know it, all of Celadon's producing businesses and industries have been replaced by consumer businesses."

"Alright, I'm with you so far," said Ash. "But I'm still missing your point."

"Well what happens when the other cities stop selling the things Celdaon can no longer produce for itself?" asked Erika. "What happens when some crisis hits and all of a sudden resources start becoming scarcer?"

"Then you'll have to pay more for what you want," said Ash. He stopped and muttered a quick "Oh."

"Pay for it with what?" asked Erika. "All Celadon can offer in exchange for other resources is currency... you can't eat currency. You can't build houses out of it. You can't build pipelines or powerplants or Pokemon Centers out of currency. Paper, after all, is just paper. And when no one is willing to trade your currency for resources, all that paper tends to pile up and grows worth less and less, to everyone."

"So when the currency becomes worthless," said Ash, connecting the dots, "it starts taking more and more to buy the things that are growing scarcer and scarcer as Celadon loses its power to import."

"Now you get it," said Erika. "That might be a gross oversimplification, but you've got the crux of it... Even ignoring all that, the whole problem goes back to production versus consumption. People who are used to consuming can no longer do so because they're no longer producing."

"Hence the riots," said Ash.

Erica stammered for only an instant before recomposing herself. "In a sense, yes."

"There's more to it than that," Ash stated flatly. "Go on."

"The riots were the result of someone leaking some rather sensitive information," said the princess. "For years I've been trying to undo what Vicar and my father did. I've been trying to move Celadon back to a producing economy, but to put it simply, doing so would involve a lot of people having to make uncomfortable adjustments to their lifestyles. In the long run it would be better for the city, but in the short term there would be a lot of cutbacks and stress.

"A big part of my plan was to break up the mint and sell it to Saffron and Cerulean, in exchange securing much needed resources and wiping most of Celadon's debt clean, but that information got out to the general public and... well, people don't very much like it when you take away their credit card, even when it is killing them. The plan fell through anyway, neither Saffron nor Fuchsia were interested, but still, the Rattata was out of the bag."

"And people got angry," Ash probed.

"Yes, fortunately whoever leaked the information got part of the story wrong and painted the plan as a joint venture by Vicar and myself. So when people went ape, it was directed at both of us." A smile returning to her face, Erica looked back out the window and surveyed the garden beyond. "Fortunately, Vicar's reputation caught the worst of the backlash and now I have the advantage of Ash Ketchum and Brock Satoshi backing me. My public relations, given the circumstances at least, are better than anything I could have asked for. Even Vicar can't fight all of Celadon."

"He can try," said Ash, standing up. "And he can cause a lot of damage in the process. Even assuming you do win, Celadon isn't going to be happy with your plan. They might fight you too."

Erika shrugged. "I'm well aware of that, which is why my men and I need our Pokemon back... both to achieve order, and to maintain it." She reached up and touched her chin, sighing as if fatigued and continued studying the garden. "It may sound harsh, but principle is less important that victory at the moment. At any rate the die's been cast, and I can't take it back now."

SC

Following the little tugs he felt in his mind, Ash navigated the alleys despite the complete darkness of the moonless night. No streetlights shone to push back the black, and the clouds overhead obscured any starlight that might have made the night less oppressive, but to Ash, the lack of light proved a non-issue due to Haunter's guidance, even if walking blind remained disconcerting. Focusing on slow movement and setting his feet down as softly as he could, Ash mad his way from alley to alley, occasionally finding larger streets that he had to cross. Every now and again he'd catch a glimpse of a lit window or a trashcan fireplace around which were gathered some of the city's homeless. These he avoided completely.

Coming to what he perceived to be a large courtyard, Ash stopped as Haunter went still. The specter informed the trainer that they'd arrived and Ash reached into his bag. Drawing out the thermal imager which had, perhaps miraculously, survived the journey from Vermilion Ash scanned the courtyard. The uniform blanket of grey displayed through the imager's eyepiece settled Ash's nerves some. He could only vaguely make out the shape of the police department, but if the asymmetrical silhouette was any indicator, the building had been hit hard enough by the riots to collapse a section of the east wing.

Putting away the imager, Ash felt Pikachu bump his leg, and reached down to scratch the Pokemon behind the ears. He silently instructed Haunter to lead the way, and followed behind as quietly as he could. Reaching the main entrance, Ash felt along the door for the handle and quickly passed through the portal, holding it open only long enough for Pikachu to slip in. Leaning down and reaching into his pack, Ash drew out a small torch and held it out to his Pokemon.

"You mind?" he asked.

A spark of light arced between the head of the torch and Pikachu's cheeks, illuminating the entryway for a split second and filling the air with a quiet crack just before the torch flamed to life. Ash thanked Pikachu and patted him, to which the Pokemon responded by straightening up and bobbing its head proudly.

Casting around, Ash scanned the large chamber in which he stood. Though the small torch threw off enough light to clearly illuminate the ground his feet, Ash found it hard to make out any details farther than a few meters away. He could tell though, that the chamber was primarily marble, with a raised entry platform flanked by two short stairways leading down to the main level of the room. Standing tall in the center of the room, an enormous fountain sat silent, the marble woman in the center of the stagnant pool holding an empty vase above her head.

Slipping to the receptionist's desk behind the fountain and crossing the field of paper debris which carpeted the floor, Ash quickly ransacked the small cubicle. Pulling out ledgers and piles of notes he sifted through stack after stack of papers, ignoring anything dated to more than a month ago and throwing such things aside. After several minutes of searching, and requiring that Pikachu hop up onto the desk and hold the torch for him, Ash came across one set of papers that he took the time to examine carefully.

"Perfect," he grinned, looking at the police report before setting it back on the desk. "Looks like I might just get lucky after all."

_Trouble_, Haunter's gurgling voice sounded in Ash's head.

"Or not," immediately Ash grabbed the torch from a very surprised Pikachu and whipped the wooden implement downward, extinguishing the light. The trainer ducked into the confines of the sectioned off bit of floorspace walled by the wraparound desk and grabbed Pikachu. Holding the Pokemon close as Haunter's presence faded slightly from distance, Ash waited for the ghost to report back. No answer came however before a glimpse of light rolled lazily over the desk as some dim source of illumination entered the room. Accompanied by at least one set of footsteps, the light stopped and Ash felt Haunter touch his mind. The specter whispered that two men dressed in police uniforms had arrived and that both carried crossbows slung over their backs. Ash ordered Haunter to follow behind them. At the same time the two men began to speak.

"I hate night duty," one muttered, still hidden from Ash by the desk. "This place gives me the creeps. It's always felt more like a haunted castle than a police department."

"Would you shut up?" answered a gruffer voice.

"I'm just saying," said the first voice as the footsteps resumed and grew closer to Ash. "When I worked in Saffron-"

"I know you're just saying. You're always just saying," said the second voice. "And one of these days its your 'just saying' that's going to get you in big trouble. Now can it and go check behind the desk so we can get back to the barracks and write that fucking report for Vicar."

Ash took in a quiet breath as the sound of the footsteps grew farther apart and one continued towards his position. As Haunter informed him that the two men were separating, one heading for the main entrance, the other walking towards the desk, Ash ordered the ghost to follow and take care of the one moving for the door. Simultaneously he reached down and touched Pikachu on the nose, shaking his head at the Pokemon as the light washing over the edge of the big desk grew slowly brighter. He pointed to the opposite end of the squat cubicle and winked. Pikachu nodded.

"Trouble my ass," said a short man in padded armor, coming into the receptionist's workspace as the door closed behind his partner. Waving his torch around he glanced around the cubicle and jumped with a cry of surprise. "Where the-" he stammered, looking down at the Pikachu sitting on the opposite end of the little space and looking up at him. "Where did you come from little guy," he walked passed the cheap desk set by the entrance, oblivious as the dark figure silently rolled out from underneath the elongated table.

The man reached down and scratched Pikachu's cheek as the Pokemon chittered happily. "Why don't you come with-" his sentence ended in a muffled gasp as Ash's hand covered his mouth and jerked his head back.

Turning with the guard to face away from Pikachu and still covering the man's mouth, even as the hapless police officer reached up and dropped his lantern to to pull on Ash's arm, the trainer plunged his long knife into the man's chest. The body convulsed for a split second as the blade skewered its heart cleanly through. Ash dropped the deadweight in a heap as Pikachu hopped up on the desk to examine his trainers work. Watching as the officer gurgled for a moment before going both still and silent, Pikachu turned to Ash and hopped up on his head as the Gym Leader picked up the guard's electric lantern.

"Sorry," Ash muttered, glancing down at the body. "Really, it's nothing personal," he added, catching himself wishing that the man had been on Erika's side.

After a second spent hiding the corpse, face up to prevent a bloody puddle, Ash felt Haunter float up beside him, giggling maniacally. The trainer shook his head before walking as quietly as he could to the hall from which the two guards had emerged. Following the passage to a bend, Ash sent Haunter ahead and only proceeded when the ghost inaudibly called the all clear, much to the confusion of Pikachu.

Walking slowly to muffle his footsteps as he descended a flight of stairs, Ash stopped at the closed door at the bottom of the well. Pressing his ear to the portal as Haunter floated through the wall, Ash listened. Even through the metal door he could make out the voices on the other side. Waiting until Haunter returned, Ash grabbed two pokeballs from his belt.

_Nine men, _Haunter whispered to the trainer, poking his invisible head through the door and floating back through. _One woman, bound, gagged._

Raising an eyebrow, Ash put the two pokeballs back on his belt. Pressing his lips into a line and unthinkingly reaching up to pet Pikachu he leaned against the wall. "A hostage changes things," he muttered, "quite a bit..."

Ash looked up as Pikachu patted him on the forehead. Following the Pokemon's gesture as the little rodent pointed, Ash spotted the air duct set high on the wall, and sighed.

"I see that," he whispered. "But there's no way I'd fit through. Besides, there's a door..."

Pikachu shook his head, leaned down, and batted Ash on the nose, pointing back up at the vent and back down at the trainer's magnetic belt. The thought flashed into Ash's mind that, unlike Arcanine and Charizard, he did in fact have a Pokemon capable of more subtlety. Grinning, he whispered a quick 'thank you' to Pikachu and retreated up the steps and out of the stairwell, pokeball in hand and Pikachu on his head. Closing the door to the stairwell behind him, Ash unclipped the pokeball from his belt and snapped it open. The quick rush of wind and flash of light lit up the dark hall and rustled the papers scattered on the floor as the glowing shape coalesced in midair. Floating forward, Butterfree lighted on Ash's outstretched arm and hummed.

"I know you don't like the dark," said Ash, opening the door and walking down the stairs with the big insect perched on his hand, "but I'm going to need your help for a minute."

Coming back to the bottom of the flight of stairs, Ash set Butterfree on the guardrail, motioning for the Pokemon to be silent, and set Pikachu on the bottom stair. Reaching up to the vent he tried the screws holding it in place. Much to his relief they had already been worked loose, a situation for which Haunter giddily took credit, and Ash had no trouble quietly removing the steel frame from its place high up on the wall.

"Alright," whispered the trainer, picking up Butterfree and holding the insect up to the vent. "Knock em out cold," he instructed. "Then flood the room with Stun Spores just to be sure."

Tucking its wings and ducking its head, Butterfree squeezed into the vent and positioned itself as close as possible to the adjacent metal panel. Unfurling as much as it could in such a confined space, Butterfree began humming very quietly and vibrating the membranes on its wings. Standing on the stairs, Ash watched as a hazy blue, almost imperceptible, mist began wafting down from Butterfree. The air filled with a smell not unlike the seashores of Vermilion and Ash retreated a little farther up the stairs when his head began to lighten with the aroma.

Waiting for several minutes, Ash only returned down the stairs once the last vestiges of the blue haze had settled on the ground like a fine powder. He took Butterfree down from the vent and patted the Pokemon's head. Whispering that the insect had done a good job, Ash directed Haunter to go through the door and investigate. Almost immediately the ghost returned.

_Men asleep,_ it whispered in his ear. _Helpless for the-_

_No, _Ash interrupted. _We're going to get the pokeballs and the hostage and get out of here._

Ash didn't miss the disappointed sigh from the specter, and put his hand on the knob. With Pikachu standing beside him and Butterfree on his shoulder, Ash cautiously opened the door and stepped into the chamber beyond. He grinned and almost laughed at the sight of nine police officers, each armed to the teeth with knives, crossbows, and sledgehammers, slumped in their chairs or sprawled out on the floor, each snoring heavily. As he stepped into the chamber, which Ash guessed to be the entrance to a cell block, he picked his way around the sleeping and paralyzed guards and walked to the desk at which one of the men slept.

"First thing's first," said the trainer.

Comfortable in his knowledge that no human constitution could recover from Butterfree's chemical attacks in less than an hour, Ash scooted the man's chair away from the desk and left the comatose figure to slump from his seat and drop to the floor in a heap while Ash took the drawers out of the desk one at a time. Turning the drawers upside down to empty the contents, Ash sifted through the papers, sets of keys, and miscellaneous odds and ends that dropped to the desk. Coming to a door locked with a simple latch, Ash glanced at the guard behind him, still snoring on the ground in front of his vacant chair. Not seeing a set of keys on the man and deciding not to take the time to search, Ash jerked the drawer and broke it loose from the desk with a splintering crack.

"Well would you look at that," he grinned, staring down at the drawer full of pokeballs. "Good work guys. It's such a nice twist when a plan goes off without any real trouble," Ash looked down at Pikachu and over at Butterfree as he shifted his pack around, unzipped the main compartment, and dumped the contents of the drawer into his bag along with the set of keys he'd found elsewhere in the desk.

The trainer felt his ghostly companion tug at his mind and heard it whisper a reminder about the hostage. Zipping up his pack, Ash slung the bag over his shoulder, and crossed the drab concrete room to the hall leading to a block of prison cells . The heavy steel doors slid on well oiled rollers and he stepped through into the police station's prison. From the first cell on his right, the trainer heard a muffled whimper and glanced over. Twitching in surprise, Ash immediately spotted the prisoner.

Sitting in the corner of the cell, stripped to her underwear with her hands cuffed behind her back, the emaciated woman glared up at him. Her hazy amber eyes narrowed in defiance when she saw him, further emphasizing the prominent bruises discoloring her otherwise sickly pale complexion. She bit harder on the cloth gag tied tightly across her mouth as she and Ash stared at each other for a brief instant, the trainer outside the cell trying to place the prisoner.

"I think I know you," he said, grabbing the cell door's handle and giving it a quick tug. The metal catch holding it shut clanked, eliciting a quick shiver from the woman in the cell. Ash reached for the keys in his pack as the prisoner scooted her back into the corner of the cell and continued staring at him.

"Anyway," Ash said, glancing at the woman between trying various keys in the lock. "I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm going to get you out of here." He noted the quick expression of incredulity flit across the prisoner's face. "I'm working with Erika, trying to boot Vicar and Team Rocket out of Celadon for good," he explained as he kept trying keys but finding none the worked. "To hell with it," Ash grumbled, reaching to his belt and pulling a pokeball free.

Snapping the orb open and stepping back as the hulking Pokemon materialized from the white light, Ash waited until Charizard had fully formed before clearing his throat to get the dragon's attention. Growling and struggling to turn around in the narrow hall, Charizard cast about between Ash and the prisoner who, the trainer noted had begun to shiver.

"The door," Ash nodded to the obstacle.

Charizard snorted, filling the air with a sulfurous stink, but begrudgingly stood up on its hind legs and slipped its clawed fingers through the bars. With a protracted grunt the Pokemon pulled and the steel bars began to deform. With a final pop the hinges gave out and Charizard pulled the heavy cell door free from the wall and set it on the ground behind Ash. The trainer thanked the Pokemon and stepped inside the cell.

Still trembling, though obviously trying not to show it as she stared up at him, the prisoner remained silent as Ash bent down and undid the knot in her gag. "I don't know exactly why you're here," said Ash as he pulled the braided cloth away, "but I'll take you someplace safe."

The woman took a deep breath, the action making her ribs even more noticeable and worked her jaw around a little. "Thanks, I think," said the woman, her voice husky and dry. "I haven't been out of this cell in..." she paused, "well... months at least."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Who did you piss off?" he asked, looping his arm around her back and helping the woman up to her feet.

"Team Rocket," she answered, not resisting as Ash lead her to the hole in the wall. "That's why, when you said you were trying to kick them out of Celadon, I started listening. Is that where I'm at?" she asked. "Celadon?"

Ash nodded, and turned her around so her back was to Charizard. "Yeah," he said. "Hold your arms back and I'll take care of these handcuffs."

The woman pushed her arms back and held her hands as far apart as the cuffs allowed. Turning his long muzzle at Ash's direction, Charizard leaned forward and snapped his jaws on the handcuff's chain, catching the metal links between between his canines. The woman's arms dropped to her sides and she groaned in relief. Taking a moment to rub the bruises around her wrists, she looked over at Ash.

"Ketchum?" she asked as Ash returned Charizard to his pokeball. "You're with Erika? So she's still in power?"

Ash nodded. "She's sure trying to be," he answered. "And I'm actually Vermilion's Gym Leader but right now I'll side with anyone who wants to fight Team Rocket."

"Then we have something in common," said the woman, picking up what ad been her gag, pulling her long ale-colored hair back, and using the braided cloth to tie it in a rough ponytail. "Officer Jennifer Mara, Viridian Police Department, Special Crimes Unit," she said, extending her hand. "Thanks again for getting me out of here."

Ash took her hand and gave it a firm shake, her name sticking in his head. "That's it," he said, face lightening. "I met you in Viridian when I was passing through. You were the first person to tell me about the food crisis and you suspected Team Rocket of being involved."

Jennifer paused for a second. "That rings a bell," she said, just before her a quick grin flitted across her face. "You were traveling to Pewter with your girlfriend," she went on. "Small world. More on topic though, I was right back then about Team Rocket being involved."

"As much as I want to hear it," said Ash, his heart leaping into his throat, "let's get back to the gym and we can talk there. We can also get you something to eat."

Jennifer's face tightened noticeably and she quickly agreed, following Ash as he lead her from the cell block. The woman stopped in the chamber with all of the sleeping and paralyzed figures and, while Ash waited, went to a small closet opposite the hall of cells. Opening the door and sifting through the contents of the closet, Jennifer settled on a heavy trench coat and some boots and quickly got dressed.

"Did you get the pokeballs from the drawer?" asked the woman, glancing between Ash and ransacked desk, sighing in relief when she saw the young trainer nod and point to his pack. "Good, then you've got my Ninetales..."

Escorted by Charizard, Pikachu, and Butterfree, Ash and Jennifer made their way out to the massive entry chamber of the police station. Neither trainer stopped to admire the room, filled as it was with numerous works of art and constructed completely out of marble and granite. The humans and the Pokemon went straight for the door and exited out to the courtyard. Jennifer and Ash alike stumbled in shock as the light of their electric lanterns fell across the human corpse sprawled across the front steps. The police officer's jaw had been wrenched open to an unnatural gape and both of the man's eyes were missing, leaving only bloody sockets in his skull.

"What the hell happened?" Jennifer whispered, carefully stepping around the dark puddle which began at the man's head and ran down the steps.

"It wasn't here when I arrived," Ash answered, stepping around the corpse and trying to tune out Haunter's silent laughter.

SC

Dropping to his knees, holding his throat, and gurgling the figure clad in the padded armor fell forward and collapsed with a choking heave. As the catlike figure, glittering blue in the torchlight, flicked its finned tail to clean off the line of blood, Vaporeon turned to the bushes. Brock and Misty emerged from the underbrush and pulled the fresh body into the bushes before reemerging from the treeline on the edge of the dark field. Perhaps a hundred yards in front of them sat the glimmering collection campfires and lighted tents which constituted the mercenary camp.

"You sure about that?" asked Misty, stomping out the torch as Brock peered through his binoculars towards the camp.

"Positive," Brock responded, dropping to one knee to better hide in the tall grass. He lowered the binoculars and slipped them back into his pack. "That was an Olivine gym member," he looked down at the little badge of steel in his palm.

"What was he doing in Kanto," asked Misty, "as far in as Celadon no less, and working with a band of mercs?"

"Couldn't tell you," said Brock, pocketing the badge and sneaking closer to the camp, followed by Misty. "He might have been a member turned mercenary who kept his badge to try and hold onto some authority. Still, if mercenaries are coming all the way from Johto, then something bigger than Celadon is going on here and we need to find out what. If gym members are crossing into Kanto then somebody needs to tell the Elite Four immediately."

Misty went silent and followed behind Brock. Flanked by Vaporeon, the ghostly Pokemon remaining a few meters away to screen for ambushes, the party snuck to the edge of the camp, coming so close as the ring of flattened grass surrounding the collection of tents and lean-to's. The pair quickly scanned the outer rim of the camp, counting the lazy sentries who'd been stuck with a watch so early in the morning, and waiting to see when the guard would change.

Brock taped Misty on the shoulder and pointed to a larger tent, decorated with silver fliers and a crimson flag. The structure sat on the outer edge of an inner ring of such pavilions, and presented the smallest face to the trainers. The girl nodded and together she and Brock darted into camp, dodging campfires and stealing around tents towards the pavilion near the center of the grounds. As they reached the side of the pavilion Vaporeon swiped its tail across the heavy fabric, opening up a gap in the canvas.

In the center the pavilion, a man sitting at a table glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the rippling canvas, just in time to spot the two figures ducking inside the tent. Swiveling around in his chair, without standing up, the man in the body armor put up his hands as Brock and Misty silently rushed up to him.

"I surrender," said the man, sitting calmly in the chair with his hands behind his head. Looking between the two intruders, each dressed in black and grey fatigues and wearing inky balaclavas, the hired soldier remained perfectly still as the shorter figure rushed to the opposite end of the pavilion and closed the entrance flap.

"That was easy," whispered Brock, standing in front of their prisoner as Misty and Vaporeon returned. He cast about the single room pavilion, noting the lone bed flanked by chests and footlockers at one end, and the pile of travel goods at the other.

"I'm an officer," said the man in the chair, "not a moron. When two people wearing black, obviously skilled enough to get passed the sentries without raising the alarm, sneak into my tent and catch me unprepared, I'm not about to jeopardize my life in a vain attempt to fight them off or alert my employers."

"Smart man," Misty looked at Brock.

"So," said the mercenary, stone-faced. "What can a humble captain offer in exchange for his life and the lives of his men?"

"I like this guy," said Misty. "He gets it."

Beneath his balaclava, Brock grinned. "Information," he said. "What's going on here?"

"Could you be a little more precise," asked the captain, running a hand over the stubble on his chin and rubbing his neck.

Brock eyed the prisoner for a moment, unsure of what to make of a man so cool under such circumstances. The Gym Leader guessed that the captain couldn't be older than thirty, though his unremarkable, if deep set, features made his age difficult to guess. The man's face was a map of faded scars and pockmarks from a life likely spent entrenched in conflict, though he still wore his matted black hair long, hanging on either side of his face to frame his features. As his icy eyes flitted from one intruder to the next, the captain remained silent, waiting for his interrogation to begin.

"I think I know you," Brock muttered. "Have you ever been through Pewter?"

The captain shook his head. "I've been a mercenary my whole life, but I've never been farther west than Cerulean. I spend most of my time around Saffron to tell the truth."

It clicked in Brock's mind, manifesting as a quick twitch in his eyes. "You were one of the mercenaries guarding the eastern entrance to Saffron during the civil war a year ago."

The mercenary nodded, an eyebrow rising up his forehead. "Correct," he answered, "that was back when Fey was in charge."

"Care to expound on what happened after Fey died?" asked Brock. "I thought all of her mercs were wiped out."

The man shook his head. "Not quite," he answered. "The contingent she took to Saffron was a rearguard. The rest of her troop was stationed at the northern checkpoints under her other lieutenants. Actually the forces she lost in the east were only a small part of her greater band. After Fey died though, it took us a few months to reorganize. After all the lieutenants agreed not to split up the army, we agreed on a new leader: me."

Scanning his memory as the man spoke, Brock waited until the captain finished. "Mike, right?"

"Do I know you?" asked the captain. "Have we met?"

Brock reached up and pulled off his balaclava. "Brock Satoshi, Pewter Gym Leader.

"Well I know the name..." Mike mumbled. "But I... you came through the checkpoint at Saffron," he interrupted himself. "I remember now. We had to turn you back and it was barely more than a day after you left that the outpost was attacked."

"I know," said Brock. "I came back through and found everyone after the fact."

"Then you're probably lucky you showed up late," said Mike. "Anything that could bring down Fey could bring down anybody. What are you doing here?"

"Investigating this little," Brock waved his hand around, "gathering. I need to determine who you're working for."

"Promise as a Gym Leader that you'll let me go and not kill any of my men," said Mike, "and I'll tell you whatever you'd like to know."

Brock glanced at Misty, who had stepped back and knelt down to pet Vaporeon. The girl shrugged without a word and went back to listening for any sound of trouble. He turned back to the captain and motioned for him to get up.

"Deal," the Gym Leader extended his hand and shook the mercenary's as Mike got to his feet. "Tell me everything you know. Who orchestrated all of this, what you're planning, whose side you're on, everything."

"In order," said the captain, "A nameless Team Rocket administrator, someone from Viridian as near as I can tell, put all of this together. Where he gets his information is above my pay-grade but... it is Team Rocket. Our objective is to move into Celadon in four days and supplement the police force for an all out assault on Erika's Gym. My forces have express orders to secure the police station and make sure the rebels can't take any of the administrative buildings around City Hall. We're working for Mayor Vicar, of course."

Brock shook his head. "You said Team Rocket put all this together?"

Mike nodded. "An administrator approached me a few weeks ago, wanted my troops to supplement an army of mercs they're bringing in from all over the continent. Why they're devoting this many resources to keeping one man in power seems obvious to me, but still, Rocket's kickbacks couldn't be enough to cover the costs of bringing people in from as far away as Johto... unless they plan on keeping Vicar in their pocket for a long time.

"Anyway, I didn't want to take the job, but the other lieutenants don't care as much about Rocket's seedy reputation as I do, so here we are."

"How much are they paying you?" asked Brock, leaning against the table and crossing his arms.

Mike paused, letting his glance shift to Misty, then to the lantern on the map covered table. "Quite a bit," he said.

"What if I offered you ten percent more, minimum, than whatever they're offering to join up with Erika and me." Brock offered.

The corner's of the captain's mouth twisted downward as he raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment. "I'd be... interested to say the least," said the merc. "There would be two problems with that however. First I'd have to actually move my troops out without drawing a great deal of attention, which is a big problem. Second I'd have to live with breaking a contract and," he drew out the word, "turning on my former employer. That's a real black mark against a mercenary company."

"And I have answers to both," said the Gym Leader. "To the first, no one is saying that you have to break away from the main body of the army. I'm just asking that you not come to their defense should the fighting get heavy or, if you're feeling bold, turn on the other mercs once they're in position."

"Hm, an interesting solution," said the captain. "I can't say I'm keen to deny getting paid to do nothing. And your second answer?"

"Would it surprise you greatly if I mentioned that Team Rocket was behind Fey's death a year ago?" Brock's tone grew deadly serious.

Remaining absolutely silent, Mike pressed his lips together and studied the Gym Leader for a long moment. "I'd ask how you came across such sensitive information," said the mercenary, almost under his breath, "especially at such a convenient time."

"When I went back to the outpost," said Brock, "I'd planned on hiring Fey to bring her men to Pewter. After I found them all dead, Fey and her guards, two Rocket Grunts came to clean up the scene. I killed one and interrogated the other who told me that two agents, Jesse and James, had killed the mercs on behalf of Team Rocket for sheltering a friend of mine. Emily, the ex-grunt, joined my Gym in Pewter afterwords. She's been nothing if not informative."

Mike went quiet for another long minute. "You're reputation's a lot shinier than Team Rocket's," said the mercenary. "I'll talk to the other lieutenants, see what they say."

"How will I know your answer?" asked Brock.

"If it's a no, then I won't send any," said the mercenary. "If it's a yes, then I'll send one messenger to the gym. He'll inform you of my intent."

Brock nodded. "Fair enough." He glanced down at the maps on the table. "I should probably let you get back to whatever you were doing."

"Have a good night then," said Mike.

"I hope we can talk again soon," said the Gym Leader, putting on his balaclava and motioning for Misty.

As the captain sat back at his table, ignoring the trainers, the two black figures slipped back out the tent and bolted out of the camp. Slipping between tents and around fires, clinging to the shadows, the pair didn't say a word until they were well within the shelter of the tall grass surrounding the camp. Misty pulled off her disguise and returned Vaporeon to its pokeball.

"You sure we can trust him?" asked the redhead.

Brock paused, still looking towards the camp. "We'd be stupid to count on him for help," he answered. "So we're going to make our plans under the assumption that our old friend will remain loyal to Team Rocket and Vicar."

"Makes sense," said Misty, hunkering down in the dark. "At least now we have a rough idea of what to expect."

Brock nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "To get our asses kicked."

* * *

AN: Well that does it for Chapter 21. I hope you all enjoyed, and check out my newest story, _The Sword And The Sorcerer_.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – The Long Twilight

"A code-nine curfew is in effect," announced the synthesized female voice. "Anyone found outside of their homes after nineteen hundred hours will be subject to the full penalty of law. A code-nine curfew is in effect," the announcement played over the street-corner loudspeaker time after time as the streets of Celadon City began to empty out. By seven o'clock in the evening, not a soul was left visible in the roads. Everyone lucky enough to own or rent a dwelling had retreated indoors and locked themselves in their homes. Those who lacked proper shelter had hidden themselves away in alleys, taking shelter within or behind dumpsters or the piles of refuse which had built up over the three days Celadon had spent without any waste management services.

As the sunlight faded the city grew darker and darker in the absence of streetlights, powered houses, or even garbage can fires. By the time the sanguine twilight had disappeared completely, only a few pinpoints of light, provided by homes and buildings that could afford private generators, shone in the darkness that overtook the metropolis. A cool breeze blowing out of the west chilled Ash, and the young Gym Leader pulled his heavy cloak tighter around his frame as he looked out over the inky city. Beside him, knelt down on the roof of the tall apartment complex adjacent to the gym but still nearly as tall as Ash, Arcanine raised his head and sniffed the air.

"You feel it, huh," Ash reached over and ran a hand through the massive canine's billowing mane. The Pokemon yipped and got to his feet, nudging Ash with a cold nose and standing closer to the trainer. "Yeah, me too," the human answered, looking down at Pikachu. The yellow rodent stood on the very edge of the apartment's flat roof, peering into the darkness, eyes flitting from side to side.

Ash took a steadying breath and reached into his pack, drawing out the thermal imager he pressed the device to his eye and looked down into the city as the flat darkness leapt to life before him. In varying tones of grey, Ash could make out tiny figures scurrying about in the courtyard of Celadon's enormous shopping complex. A kilometer or more away, Ash zoomed in to watch as the police mobilized in front of the complex and bustled like a colony of termites, their numbers bolstered as they were by the influx of mercenaries over the passed few days.

"It's going to be an interesting day..." muttered the trainer, turning as a flapping and fluttering of wings erupted behind him. Stepping down from Pidgeot's back, Brock crossed the short distance between himself and Ash, taking up a position beside the younger Gym Leader.

"Jennifer's awake," Brock reported, reaching down and tightening one of the many belts that held his segmented armor in place.

"Is she eating?" asked Ash.

"Like a horse," the taller man answered. "We're keeping her on an IV to make sure she stays hydrated and gets all the nutrients she missed in prison, but she's still really underweight and her blood work looks bad. Can't call that surprising though," Brock went on, pulling his cloak closer as another cool wind blew up behind him, "given what she went through."

"She's tough," Ash commented, still looking out over the city.

Brock agreed and stepped up to the edge of the roof, setting the heel of his boot up on the low banister and scanning the scene. "She still wants to fight," he said, holding out his hand and motioning for Ash to hand him the thermal imager.

"Not happening," said Ash, stone-faced as he handed the device to Brock. "I don't want her or Misty anywhere near the front of the action." He walked up beside Brock and Pikachu, followed by Arcanine.

"We might need them," Brock pointed out, actively keeping his tone passive.

"If anything," said Ash, "we'll keep them in the rear to screen Erika. That should be as safe a place as any."

"Just putting you and me in more danger," noted Brock.

Ash nodded. "Wasn't that the plan anyway? It was your idea if memory serves."

"Doesn't mean I like it," said Brock, looking through the imager and zooming in on the shopping complex. He whistled as he took stock of the scene. "You sure about this?" he asked, handing the imager back to its owner.

"I'll bet they're asking themselves the same thing right about now," said Ash, taking the device. "Seriously though," he turned to the older Gym Leader. "I'm not asking you to fight to the death here. I've been talking with Misty and..." he stopped short.

"And?" Brock probed.

Ash shrugged. "Well, I don't recall ever telling Erika we'd die for her cause. So I just want you to know that if things get too heated tomorrow, nothing is stopping any of us from turning tail and heading straight back to Fuchsia."

"You told Misty about this?" asked Brock.

"It was her idea."

"I like it," Brock smirked. "At any rate, her royal highness the empress of all creation wanted me to come and get you."

"What does she want now?" asked Ash.

"Mike's runners just arrived."

After another sidelong glance at Celadon, listening once more to the loudspeaker's announcement of the curfew, Ash returned Arcanine to his pokeball, gatherer up Pikachu, and flew with Brock down to the sturdily built greenhouse and the wooden fort therein. Making their way towards the pagoda at the back of the fort, Ash and Brock passed several of Erika's royal guards making various arrangements for a battle. Some were sharpening swords on whetstones while others were carrying bundles of arrows from place to place. Still others had brought out stands of armor or racks filled with tall bows.

Erika's office, lit by several gilded lamps hanging from the walls, seemed smaller to Ash than the last time he'd spoken with the princess. Tables now dotted the floorspace between the Gym Leader's desk and the entrance, each taken up by maps of the city and schematics of the buildings surrounding the gym being carefully studied by the people standing over them. Erika sat at her post, flanked by her bodyguard and two of her officers, as a trio of men in leather jerkins stood opposite the princess. Everyone in the room turned as Ash and Brock entered, stepping aside to clear a path between the two men and the people gathered around the desk.

Turning in her seat, Erika nodded politely as Brock and Ash approached, and the three mercenaries standing in front of her all pivoted and saluted the trainers. Their leader, a tall man wearing a scale shirt beneath his jerkin, inclined his head and shook Ash's hand, then extended the gesture to Brock and introduced himself as Alfred.

"You're Mike's men I'll assume" Brock said. "He's accepted our proposal then?"

Nodding as he crossed his arms, the mercenary's lip curled up in a grin, emphasizing the thick scar which wound from the inner corner of his right eye, all the way down the middle of his face to his chin. "That we have," said Alfred. "As soon as Mike said there was a chance Team Rocket was responsible for Fey's death, the rest of the men went ape. Some of the lieutenants wanted to defect right then and there but Mike held everyone in check. Long story short, y'all have your work cut out for you, but we've got your back. As a show of good faith," the mercenary went on, "Mike's offered me and these two, all three of us his friends, as hostages."

"So what's the plan?" asked Ash.

"On our end?" Alfred clarified, continuing once Ash motioned for him to go on. "Mike says we're going to move on City Hall as planned, but ignore the Police Department and the administrative buildings since they're too out of the way. Along the way we'll send a dozen or so of our light infantry to reinforce your flanks. Our main army will wait for Vicar's men to assault the gym, then show up and hit 'em from behind where they'll be the least defended. Simple as can be."

Raising an eyebrow, Ash uncrossed his arms and shifted back a little. "What brought all this on?" he asked. "Last I heard you guys were thinking you'd just stay out of the way."

"Fey was our boss," Alfred declared, raising his voice. "More than that she was our leader our..." he paused and searched for a word, "comrade. None of us are sure of exactly what happened when she died, but we can be sure that you" he pointed to Ash, "weren't involved. Mike says odds are better than not that Team Rocket was, and that's more than enough for me." He laughed once, the fire in his eyes settling down. "Besides, it's you folks that will have the brunt of the trouble anyway." As he turned around and motioned for Ash and Brock to follow, Erika stood up and hovered over the map.

"If Misty's intelligence is anything to go by," said the woman in the Kimono, "then we're in for an all out assault on the gym tomorrow night," she ran her finger down the street depicted on the map of Celadon in front of her. "The mercenary she interrogated gave up that their basic plan is to use the trainers to do all the heavy fighting while their regulars circle around the gym to hold their flanks and to harry ours. There's no surprise there, but where things get interesting is when you look at their desire to take the Game Corner."

Brock looked sideways at the map as Erika tapped a structure on the far side of the city. "Why?" he asked. "What's there?"

"Couldn't say," said Erika. "I haven't been watching it too closely, but the mercenaries are diverting twenty men and two trainers to the Game Corner's ruins. Something's there that they don't want us getting at."

"Janine did say Rocket had a base there," said Ash. "That's about half the reason we came here in the first place. Still, right now we should just be glad that those are troops we don't have to worry about."

"Agreed," said Erika. "However, if there's something there I want to know what it is," she turned to the mercenaries. "What are the chances you could devote some of your men to taking the Game Corner."

"We're no army," said Alfred. "If you want us to have a chance of doing any real damage to the main force, then we'll need everyone we have in that fight."

"Can't be helped then," said Erika. "The Game Corner will just have to wait. Brock," she turned to the eldest Gym Leader. "You have extensive experience in a militia and you'll be at the head of my formations. Consider yourself promoted to Captain." She shifted to face Ash. "I'll just let you do what you do best."

SC

"That's..." Ash muttered, looking out over the streets before the gym, "big..."

From his vantage point, sitting atop Pidgeot's back who had perched on the tall apartment complex next to the Celadon Gym, Ash had a clear view of the battle lines. The "T" intersection of two main thoroughfares before the greenhouse provided a large and clearly defined battlefield, a sight Ash was both unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. On Erika's side there stood fifty men behind a barricade constructed of sharpened wooden stakes fixed to the ground by heavy frames. Each man, some twenty of them obviously far younger than the rest, remained silent and at attention, armed with a sword on his hip and a tall black bow across his back. At the rear of the formation, Erika sat atop her massive Venusaur, flanked by her Victreebell and a Vileplume, while Misty and Jennifer stood on her left. Staryu, Arcanine, Vaporeon, and Starmie floated or stood in front of Misty, while Jennifer stood defended by a pair of statuesque Ninetales.

Standing like a colossus in front of the barricades and clearly dominating that side of the scene however, Onyx glared down the wide road as its trainer sat in his Rhyhorn's saddle. Positioned three hundred meters down the road sat the combined forces of Mayor Vicar and Team Rocket's mercenaries. Clearly, Ash thought, Erika's intelligence had been off. The vanguard of the army alone, the host escorting the body of trainers slowly making their way down the road consisted of no less than eighty men, while the main body of regulars remained about four hundred yards farther back. Every man in the vanguard carried a clear riot shield and a heavy crossbows, though the escorts concerned Ash very little; his attention remained focused on the mounted soldiers in the center.

Five men in composite armor rode in the front atop Tauroses, while four men, two on each flank, in identical equipment rode Ponytas. A tenth soldier, plainly their captain if his ornate armor and Rapidash mount spoke to his station, rode behind the other nine. Slowly the mounted trainers and their escorts advanced to within two hundred yards of the gym's defensive line and there they stopped, waiting as the main force of no less than two hundred regulars advanced to the point previously occupied by the vanguard.

From this distance, Ash could make out neither the exact tune nor the words of the army's call-and-response cadence, but nevertheless the marching song reached his ears in the form of a low and driving hum. The young trainer tightened his grips on Pidgeot's reins, his head beginning to race as fast as his heart at the thought of the inevitable fight. From the special divot in the saddle, specially designed for the little Pokemon, Pikachu turned around and looked up at his trainer, ears dropping back against his skull and popping upright again as Charizard's growl filled the air with the smell of sulfur. Ash glanced at the dragon beside him, watching the Pokemon's lip curl in a snarl as it looked over the oncoming force. To the young trainer it seemed obvious that Charizard had already tired of hiding on the roof, and he reached over to put a hand on the Pokemon's side.

"Just keep it pent up a little while longer," he said, feeling Charizard's skin vibrating with anticipation.

As the trainers approaching Erika's battle line, shielded by their vanguard, went to their belts and grabbed a number of pokeballs in unison, the rider in the rear trotted around his companions and rode forward, seemingly without any fear of coming under attack. As white flashes came and went to announce the loosing of several Pokemon behind him, the rider quickened his pace and cantered up to within a stone's throw of Erika's line. He reared his mount around and stopped less than thirty meters from Onyx and straightened up in his saddle.

"His Honor, Mayor Vicar!" yelled the rider, his call reaching even Ash with relative clarity, "extends his most generous offer of quarter in exchange for surrender! Peacefully lay down your weapons, surrender your beasts, and offer up the would-be usurper to justice, and you may all go free!" A short few seconds went by as every sound faded. Even in the sprawling metropolis, only the whistling wind broke the silence.

"If you lose this battle!" shouted the messenger, "Vicar will show you no mercy! No quarter will be given and none of you spared!"

Ash's attention immediately shifted to Brock as the eldest Gym Leader present rode forward only a few steps and raised one hand high over his head. Reacting to the motion every man behind the barricade drew his bow and aimed out over Brock's head.

"If!" Brock bellowed, swiping his hand down.

The air filled with the biting twangs of dozens of heavy bows as a thicket of arrows raced skyward from Erika's troops. As she shafts arced over Brock's head, even passing high over Vicar's messenger, Ash heard the dull thuds of more than twenty crossbows beneath him. Mike's mercenaries, stationed in the apartment complexes on either side of the gym opened fire, every bolt screaming through the air towards the man on the Rapidash. The messenger raised his arm to shield himself as the bolts thumped into his armor and his mount, tearing the horse out from beneath him and knocking the armored man to the ground. Whinnying in blind panic the Rapidash kicked out for a moment, pierced by many of the projectiles and incapable of righting itself. The messenger staggered to his feet, two bolts protruding from the thorax of his armor, and turned to run for the vanguard, even as five dozen arrows rained down on the mercenaries. He collapsed before reaching the formation.

Many of the men within the vanguard rushed to form a rough shield-wall around the trainers, while some simply ducked behind their shields to save themselves. One of the mercenaries holding his shield above his head to protect the trainer behind him cried out in pain as the bodkin arrow ripped thought his shin and pinned him to the asphalt road. To that mercenary's left, another screamed as an arrow struck his shield. The shaft shattered like balsa but forced the hardened steel head of the projectile far enough through the man's defense to skewer his hand. All throughout the vanguard a handful of men went down under the fire as arrows found undefended targets or fell hard enough to penetrate the riot shields. To Ash's chagrin, none of the trainers fell.

"Froward!" one of the trainers from Vicar's host ordered. The men on the backs of the Pokemon charged, their mounts bolting forward in unison with the small host of the trainers' Pokemon. The small army of monsters, ranging from Nidorinos to Gravelers to Scythers kept pace with their respective owners as the vanguard quickly reformed themselves into a Testudo formation and began marching forward.

The radio in Ash's ear buzzed and Erika came over the line. "Strafe the regulars," she ordered calmly. "Fly low if you can to avoid any arrows."

The young Gym Leader acknowledged the order and turned to Charizard. "Here we go!" he barked, simultaneously tapping Pidgeot with his heels and rocketing skyward. "The shields!" Ash shouted to the red dragon, guiding Pidgeot with his knees more towards the charging Pokemon. "Pikachu, the Charmander!"

As Brock, flanked by Golem and Onyx charged forward Erika's guard reloaded and loosed another volley, this one arcing far higher. An instant before Brock met the enemy trainers, Pidgeot swooped down behind the charging mercenaries and Pikachu loosed a thunderbolt that nearly flash-boiled a small red Pokemon. Onyx barreled into oncoming force like an avalanche, either crushing or knocking aside any creature that failed to dodge out of its way. At the same time Ash pulled up and Pidgeot banked hard to the left over friendlier forces as he finished his first strafing run. A combination of satisfaction and regret flitted across the airborne trainer's face as Charizard flew low over the Testudo formation and lambasted it with a jet of flame.

As the of shell of shields wavered under the infernal assault and opened enough for several men inside to train their bows on Charizard, Mike's crossbowmen took the opportunity and loosed another volley of bolts. Many of the projectiles, all aimed expressly to find the formation's cracks, thudded into their soft targets and several men screamed. A few in the vanguard loosed a volley at Charizard while the rest hurriedly cast about to find the source of the direct fire. Charizard rolled out of the incoming volley's path and began his circle around for another pass.

Over the radio, Erika warned Ash of another volley coming his way at roughly the same moment that the first rain of arrows came crashing down on the distant body of mercenary regulars who'd since begun their advance. Moving out of the arc of fire Ash directed Pidgeot with his knees and she swooped down towards the center of the wide intersection where Onyx had set into the line of trainers and Brock engaged a man on a Tauros. The bird screeched and opened its talons, snatching a Raticate off the ground and reducing it to crimson ribbons in midair, but not before the massive rodent clawed at the flighted Pokemon's belly and drew blood. Pikachu in turn loosed a thunderbolt that knocked a pair of Mankey to the ground.

"Brock!" Ash barked into his radio. "Fall back to the barricades before you're overwhelmed!" He tapped a small button on the earpiece as Brock began an immediate but measured push backwards. "Alfred, you're targets are about to get a lot closer, make it count." The young Gym Leader banked on Pidgeot, rejoining Charizard as the Pokemon finished yet another strafing attack on the near-panicking formation of mercenary escorts. "Hit 'em hard," he ordered, pointing to the Testudo.

Charizard roared and belched a luminous cloud of sulfurous gas as it angled straight down at the shield wall, howling like a thunderstorm. It snapped its wings closed an instant before impact and opened all four of its clawed limbs as it landed directly on top of a pair of unlucky troopers. Ash watched with a kind of sickened fascination as the dragon completely cut loose on the formation. In the time it took the trainer's heart to beat once, Charizard had eviscerated the first two troopers and held a third in its jaws. The man in the dragons mouth screamed and choked as Charizard wrenched his head about. Ash couldn't turn away. He'd thought the human body stronger than that, but the man's midsection literately came apart in Charizard's mouth and began splattering all over the surrounding troopers.

Shaking his head to snap himself out of it, Ash wheeled Pidgeot around as the Vanguard broke and scattered, fleeing from Charizard without so much as firing a shot at it. Charizard turned to chase after them, cutting down another soldier without hesitation, but Ash's order caught the dragon's attention. The young trainer swooped down, lighted on the ground next to Charizard, and stepped down from Pidgeot. The bird breathed heavily through its mouth, the wound across its belly staining its feathers as it disappeared into the pokeball in Ash's outstretched hand. Ash jumped up on Charizard's back, fastening his legs into the sturdy leather saddle as another volley of arrows arced high overhead. Pikachu hopped up in his lap and Ash kicked Charizard's sides. Begrudgingly, the dragon jumped and pulled itself into the air as arrows rained down on the rapidly closing body of mercenary regulars.

"That's a good start," said Ash, lashing Pikachu to the saddle and surveying the battlefield.

Still slowly falling back to the barricade, Brock shouted an order to the soldiers behind the defenses. On cue the front ranks of men drew their swords and handed their bows off to women and younger children who promptly retreated. As the noncombatants retreated to the relative safety of the gym, Erika and her two escorts moved forward to join the front ranks. As Erika leaned forward in her seat and took a Yari from her bodyguard, the sword armed troops on the front line charged into the fray beside Brock, their battle cry reaching even Ash's ears while the remainder of the bow armed troops rushed for the apartment complexes' doors where Alfred's mercenaries hurried them inside.

The princess twirled her long spear as her Venusaur lumbered into the fight. From the creature's back, Erika ordered her Pokemon to charge and drove the blade of the weapon at a Scyther's thorax. The force behind the wickedly sharp spearhead split the insect's protective exoskeleton and sliced into the mushy tissue beyond. The Scyther hissed and it's face contorted. The furious Pokemon swept downwards with its bladed arms and cut the princess's spear in half. An instant later it was around the Venusaur's snapping bite, up on the Pokemon's back, and up directly in front of Erika, its arm pulled back to strike. Without taking her eyes from her opponent and acting in a single fluid motion, Erika grabbed the handle of the sword fixed to her Pokemon's side, and drew the weapon with a blinding swipe at the Scyther.

The insect still slashed at the woman, but the attack passed well over the princess's head as the Scyther tumbled, from the knees up at least, backwards to the ground. The creature's severed legs toppled from Venusaur's back as the heavy Pokemon stomped on the Scyther and reared about.

Reaching out with surprising dexterity, Brock's Golem locked one of its massive hands around the Mankey that had leapt up on its trainer's back. The boulder of a Pokemon closed its fist and filled the air with a sharp snap in the process. Brock took a deep but hurried breath and cast about. From Rhyhorn's back he could clearly see that all around him, the enemy trainers were slowly falling back, constantly under attack by Erika's soldiers.

Working in small but coordinated units of two and three, the warriors in the bronze masks would dodge quickly into and out of the fray. If one man was in danger of being overwhelmed he would immediately retreat, only to find another engagement or rejoin the previous one while his allies covered for him and screened his redeployment. Watching all this, Brock couldn't stop a small grin from spreading over his face, and then he looked up.

Hearing a shrill whistling that quickly grew into a deafening din, Brock glanced up at the sky. For an instant he couldn't understand why long streaks of the burnt orange clouds were flashing between black and red, but then the first wave of arrows came down on the battlefield. Brock instantly rolled off his Rhyhorn's back and ducked under the stocky Pokemon, but all around him screams erupted as both soldiers, trainers, and Pokemon alike were cut down by the rain of arrows.

Watching in horror from Charizard's back, Ash flew over the battlefield and put a hand up to his ear. "Alfred," he barked into the radio. "Your archers need to turn all their fire on the Rocket troops moving in from the north!" Ash looked down at the body of mercenaries that had halted only a hundred yards from where Erika's troops had engaged the enemy trainers. The regulars had quickly drawn up line after line of thin ranks that took advantage of the streets openness and begun volleying waves of arrows towards the barricades in front of the gym. "You've got to at least thin them out!"

"Can do," the mercenary answered. "Guess those bastards aren't worried about friendly fire." He began shouting orders that Ash couldn't make out over the radio before the signal cut out, and a moment later bolts and arrows began arcing from the windows and balconies of the apartment buildings towards the body of regulars.

Keeping his distance from the regulars and circling behind them as quickly as he could, Ash watched their slow and methodical advance. As the ranks of bowmen in the front ranks loosed their volley, those in the rear would walk forward and knock another arrow, simultaneously turning their bows skywards and awaiting their orders.

"Ash," Brock came over the radio as the young trainer managed to get behind the thick mass of troops. "We're getting smashed down here! Anything you can do?"

"Working on it," Ash grumbled.

Leaning forward and to one side, not wanting to crush Pikachu, Ash held Charizard's reins with one hand and pointed with his other. "Come at them from an angle," he ordered the dragon as Charizard began to dive. "Pikachu, try for a wide spread!"

Ash streaked through the air less than twenty feet above the heads of the men in the rear of the formation. As Charizard leveled off and crossed from one corner of the formation to its opposite the dragon opened its jaws and loosed a geyser of flame that washed over more than a dozen men, igniting them in an instant. At the same time, Pikachu crackled with energy and several troopers on the edges of Charizard's fiery swathe flashed white as lightning arced between them and the rodent on the dragon's back. As screams of terror and officers barking orders rose out of the formation, Ash directed Charizard higher into the air and put his hand up to the radio.

"Brock," he said, looking back at the troops below just in time to see several dozen of them training bows on him. "I've got their attention but it won't last. Get to cover and-" Ash cut himself off, pulling on Charizard's reins to roll the Pokemon to one side and out of the way of the missiles screaming towards them.

Ash reached out with a thought and contacted the ghost hiding in his backpack. _Haunter,_ he whispered. _You wanted to wreak some havoc and now's your chance... on my next pass I want you to find every officer you can and do whatever you want to them._ The trainer shivered when Haunter's maniacal laughter answered his order.

"Done," Brock muttered into the radio. "Out." Surveying the scene around him the older Gym Leader spotted one of the many soldiers hit but not killed by an arrow. Brock ran to the man in the mask and checked the sky for another volley before slinging the wounded warrior's arm over his shoulder and getting him to his feet. "Come on, let's go," said Brock, half carrying the man back to the barricades as what few soldiers around him who weren't hit helped their compatriots to relative safety.

"Brock," Jennifer and her two Ninetales came running up to him, followed immediately by Misty and her Pokemon. "We need to get inside before they can hit us again."

"Can't do that," said the Gym Leader. "If we hole up inside then they'll just starve us out or set the whole greenhouse on fire. Take cover behind the barricades," he pointed to the small walls of thick wooden stakes. "If we can draw them into melee then the breaks in the barricades should work as choke points."

"You sure about that?" asked Jennifer, turning first to her Ninetales and then to Misty's Pokemon. One of the majestic white foxes sported a patch of bare and burned skin that ran the length of its body, and the other bore a set of shallow but long claw marks carved into its haunches. Arcanine, who stood unflinchingly beside Misty, despite the bolt lodged in its shoulder, pawed at the ground.

"We still have time," Misty said, almost too quietly to be heard over the shouting all around, "to get out of here that is."

Brock pressed his lips into a fine line. "I'd almost consider it," he said. "But the battle's started, and our names are attached to it. If we leave now Vicar wins for sure and he wouldn't let this go."

"We never should have agreed to this," Misty shook her head. She turned around and spotted Erika issuing orders to the troops. "Get them behind the barricades!" Misty shouted. "Get them ready for another volley!"

A veritable hail of arrows turned Ash away from his next attempt to streak over the mercenary troopers, but he got close enough to feel the ghostly presence in his backpack abandon its hiding spot and rush down into the ranks of soldiers. As Charizard carried Ash and Pikachu to a safe distance from the still advancing troops, Haunter floated invisibly to the extreme edge of the formation. Marking its target, a man in a much nicer uniform than everyone around him, the ghost skulked forward, just as the officer raised his hand and prepared to issue an order.

Drawing the gazes of everyone around him, the commander's order choked off as his head jerked back. A second later the wide-eyed officer's head wrenched around towards his now staring troopers and twisted itself completely free of his shoulders. Spine snapping, tendons tearing, and blood spraying, the commander's head spun completely around and dropped to the ground as his body remained standing in place. As the troopers around the decapitated officer watched in stark horror, some already throwing down their weapons to flee, their commander's body drew its sword, lunged forward, and impaled the nearest mercenary warrior. Both bodies dropped to the ground and immediately everyone around the corpses scattered.

Ash circled around the flank of the advancing column, taking advantage of the chaos Haunter had sewn. Swooping down, Charizard blasted a fleeing trooper and snatched up another. As Pikachu loosed a bolt of energy, frying another soldier, Charizard shredded the man in his claws and scattered the remains.

The dragon roared as a bolt ripped into its side. The missile stuck in the Pokemon's ribs and Charizard wavered for an instant. In response however it quickly located the terrified soldier, still holding his bow, swooped down, and caught the man up in his claws. Flying high over the column, as much to get away from the new volleys of arrows aimed their direction, Charizard released the screaming soldier more than ninety feet over the ground.

Back at the battlefield before the gym, Erika had sheltered her men either on the lower floors of the apartment buildings or behind the barricades. She waited with Jennifer and Misty, themselves taking shelter from the nearly continuous sprinkling of bolts, while Alfred and Erika's other bowmen continued to harass the troops still marching for the lines of wooden stakes. Brock, still atop his Rhyhorn, waited behind Onyx as the missile fire deflected harmlessly off the serpent's hide.

Erika, now on foot having recalled her wounded Venusaur, glanced out from behind the barricade and grimaced as the enemy troops closed to within thirty meters of the barricades. One final volley of arrows flew from the column of mercenaries, the steel tips glinting like fiery hail in the waning sunlight, and clattered with little effect around the entrenched defenders. The Gym Leader put a hand up to the radio in her ear.

"Alfred," she said. "How are you looking up there?"

"Damned handsome but just about out of ammunition, ma'am," said the mercenary.

"One more salvo, pick your targets" Erika ordered, "then get down here."

"Done and done ma'am," answered the merc.

Erika radioed Ash and demanded a report on his position and condition.

Looking down at the battlefield, then at the many holes torn by bolts and arrows through Charizard's wings, Ash turned back to the barricade as Vicar's mercenary army charged the line. "A bit of a rough spot," he answered, feeling his mount's wings straining to keep them aloft. "I'm heading for the barricade now." As he released the "talk" button, Erika's voice immediately came over the line, accompanied by a cacophony of screams and ringing.

"Don't bother!" Ash heard Erika yell. "My lookout just spotted another group of soldiers coming out of the alleys behind the mercenaries. If it's Mike's troops then I want you to meet up with them and lead the charge. If not then kill-" something cut her off.

A series of blinding flashes of light forced Misty to raise her arm in front of her face. Jennifer standing beside her did the same and both women looked up as soon as the light faded. They gasped as the battle all around them seemed to pause for an instant, all activity becoming unimportant as the lines of fighting men opened up in the streets surrounding the gym. Coalescing from a pair of tall pillars of white light, two behemoth shapes reared up. Each standing more than fifteen feet tall, the grotesque shapes resembled nothing more than a pair of Rhydon, but as Misty spotted the metal plates grafted to their skin like armor, the steel helmets permanently fixed to their heads, and the forked drill bits in place of their horns, she stumbled with realization.

"Oh shit," she muttered, remembering what just one of the creatures had been capable of at Mount Moon. The girl nervously put a hand on Arcanine's shoulder as the fiery Pokemon Ash had instructed to protect her spotted the Arbok rising out of its coils beside the two aberrant Pokemon. Misty's glance flitted to the purple serpent and again her stomach turned. As it uncoiled, all could see the Pokemon had undergone modification similar to the pair of Rhydon. It's hood had been amputated and replaced with a steel plate, sharpened on both ends to provide both a protective weapon and a solid defense, and several overlapping metal scales had been grafted to its belly. As the Arbok opened its mouth, spotting Arcanine and glaring at the Pokemon, its mouth opened wide enough to swallow the canine whole, revealing no fewer than a dozen long spikes protruding from its gums.

Ash looked to the rear of the mercenary army, and immediately spotted several trails of men lining up a hundred yards from the other soldiers. Praying that Charizard could at least get him that far, Ash angled down and landed on the eastern flank of the new arrivals, much to the shock of several of the soldiers. Casting about as a pair of crossbows trained on him, Ash spotted who he was looking for. Before the young trainer could say a word though Mike came bursting through the line of soldiers, barking orders for them to put their weapons down. He turned on Ash with a smirk.

"You ready to take the fight to these bastards?" asked the mercenary captain.

Ash nodded and reared Charizard around like a squat horse. "Lead the way."

"Alright! Alright!" Mike shouted, turning around and marching back into the center of the formation. "You sons a' bitches know the drill! Fire and advance! Fire and advance! On my order!" he raised his hand over his head, then brought it down in a fierce motion in the direction of Vicar's army. "March!"

Organized in three lines of twenty-five men, Mike's soldiers began marching forward with quick, short strides. As Ash followed on the left flank, the front line of soldiers raised crossbows and aimed into the massed enemy. Mike shouted an order and the front line stopped and fired. As the bolts traced a shallow arc over the seventy meters separating Mike's mercenaries from Team Rocket's, the trailing lines of soldiers advanced through their reloading companions and repeated the sequence. No sooner had the first volley reached the rear of Team Rocket's formation, then another wave of bolts had been fired along the same trajectory.

Riding on Charizard's back, Ash could clearly see the projectiles falling on Team Rocket's mercenaries, though he more or less ignored the sight as he continued advancing beside Mike's men. In the distance before the barricades, the young Gym Leader could make out three hulking shapes towering over the other soldiers. One he recognized as Onyx but not the other two, both of whom Ash could make out grappling with Brock's most formidable Pokemon.

Mike scanned the rear lines of Team Rocket's forces. He laughed aloud and pointed when he saw them still stumbling around in shock as he and his soldiers advanced to within forty yards of their position. Some had gotten hold of riot shields from the front ranks, but most were trying to hide behind the people around them or searching ranged weapons of their own.

"All aim!" Mike shouted to his men as they all stopped. With the speed of a well-oiled machine the front row of crossbowmen dropped prone in the street, the second row knelt behind them, and the third stood directly behind the second. Every soldier trained their weapons on Team Rocket's massed troops. Mike bellowed the order and all seventy-five soldiers fired. As the bolts tore through the enemy troops, the least defended troopers intentionally chosen by each attacking soldier, Mike drew a heavy flanged mace from his belt. "Charge!" shouted the mercenary captain.

Leaping to their feet and bolting forward, Mike's troops tossed aside their crossbows and drew maces on the run. Ash quickly undid the straps holding himself and Pikachu in the saddle and kicked Charizard's sides. The dragon roared and spat a hissing cloud of acrid fumes as it charged, instantly pulling ahead of the charging mercenaries as Ash grabbed Pikachu and jumped from the Pokemon's back to the street. Several of Team Rocket's mercenaries saw the charging dragon, threw down their shields, and scattered even before Charizard slammed into the front rank of soldiers.

Spitting flames and smoke, Charizard flew into a berserk rage and loosed scream after ear-splitting scream as it lashed out to shred any living being within reach of its claws or teeth. Taking advantage of the chaos, Mike's soldiers made sure to steer well clear of the Pokemon, and barreled into the opposing lines. Maces came down on helmets, shields, and unprotected skulls alike as Ash's heavily armed and armored allies smashed through the first rank of men. The charge sent shock waves rolling through Team Rocket's troops while Ash stayed near the back with Pikachu, holding the little Pokemon in the air to give it a better vantage point. Yellow bolts of energy arced between Pikachu and the Pokemon's chosen targets, sewing even more chaos among the flanked soldiers.

"Why would Vicar want soldiers like this at City Hall?" Ash wondered, watching Mike's men hack and smash their way into the much more lightly armored regulars. "Probably to protect his sorry ass," decided the trainer. He paused, feeling a tug at his mind and noting Haunter floating invisibly up beside him before disappearing into his backpack.

_Spent,_ whispered the ghost.

The moment the ghost went inactive, a bright flash of white light behind Mike's line snared Ash's attention. The nebula of energy whirled into a vaguely man shaped creature, though the form stood nearly eight feet tall and sported four hulking arms. The glow faded and Ash stared across the short stretch of empty road separating him from the monstrous Machamp. The beast glared at Ash thorough the spherical camera sewn into the front of its skull, the crimson skin cracking as it flexed to accommodate the flitting motions of the device. A wheezing breath escaped the mouth full of wickedly sharp yellow teeth and the monster banged the metal blades fixed to its truncated wrists together.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted as Pikachu jumped to the ground in front of him.

At the barricades the battle had quickly segregated with the colossal Pokemon grappling and slugging it out in the center of the conflict, while the human troops engaged in vicious hand to hand combat all over the space before the gym. Onyx held the full attention of both Rhydon. Always managing to break their attempts to grapple it to the ground the serpent, less agile but more massive that its opponents, overpowered one Rhydon at a time with sheer bulk, knocking one to the ground, but having to reengage the other before any finishing blows could be struck.

A dozen meters away from the giants' battle, but still within the clearing in the battlefield, Arcanine and Jennifer's two Ninetales traded glancing blows and lightning fast feints and dodges with the cybernetic Arbok. The purple snake had grown no slower for its upgrades. If anything it had somehow managed to move even faster, quickly overwhelming Arcanine's defenses over and over, focusing on the canine to the complete exclusion of the Ninetales, only to be driven away by jets and fans of flame sprayed by the statuesque foxes.

Arbok whipped it's head around, jaws open to bite, and Arcanine flung itself backwards with blinding speed. The serpent's jaws snapped shut well clear of Arcanine's neck, but the snake's bladed hood passed through the canine's front paw like water, opening Arcanine's leg and splashing the ground with its hot blood. A blast of fire sent the snake scurrying for cover as both Ninetales flanked the monster and closed in around to protect Arcanine, but the massive dog only roared and charged forward. Either oblivious to or ignoring its gaping wound, Arcanine flung itself forward and slammed its shoulder into Arbok, knocking the serpent off balance. Recovering from the charge, Arcanine again jumped into the air and went for the serpent's throat.

Seeming to blink out of existence, Arbok vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared behind Arcanine. The serpent hissed and lunged for the Pokemon, ignoring the streams of fire deflecting off the back of its hood that wreathed the battle in flame and smoke. Arcanine spun and again bolted forward, moving too close for the lunging snake to bite, and snapped its jaws closed closed at the base of the Arbok's skull. The snake reared back but Arcanine held tight, jerking its body forward and attaching itself to the serpent. Claw and fang ground and shrieked against steel scales, but Arcanine's crushing bite deformed and punctured the snake's defenses and a blast of flame bolted out from between the canine's teeth.

Shaking its head and blasting fire into the wound, Arcanine tried to tear Arbok's head free of its body, but the snake coiled up on itself and wrapped around the canine, fighting to strangle the life from it. As the two old enemies fought grappling, biting, tearing, and crushing one another, Misty and Jennifer stood in the no man's land between the dueling Pokemon and clashing armies. Protected by Misty's hovering Staryu and Starmie and left alone by both Team Rocket's regulars and Erika's warriors they scanned the ranks of soldiers surrounding them.

"There," Misty shouted over the roar of the battle, pointing across the arena and grabbing Jennifer's arm. "There's one," she motioned to a soldier in an unassuming figure in a sage colored cloak. Holding a small orb in one hand and watching the Pokemon dueling in the center of the fight, the figure stood out in the chaos.

Jennifer followed Misty's gesture, staring across the battlefield. Fingering the composite bowstring and the knocked arrow at her left hand, she spotted the mark and raised the weapon. Drawing the arrow back to her lip and releasing it without a breath or a word, she traced the projectile's path and watched as the figure in the cloak tried to dodge to one side a moment too late. The long arrow ripped into the man's chest and he fell backwards with a gasp. When the man's death did nothing to disrupt and of the enemy Pokemon in the center of the killing field Misty cursed.

"They're not just going to drop everything and run because their trainer's dead," Jennifer said. "Keep looking."

Misty focused on scanning the field for anyone not engaged in combat, or whom the other Team Rocket regulars seemed intent on screening. Watching as both sides tore at one another among the barricades, one man attacking another only to be hacked at by a third and a fourth until someone else could join the fray made Misty's stomach turn. The armor, thought the trainer, almost made it worse. Each soldier wore something to protect himself, and Erika's warriors wore more than anyone else, meaning that no one ever went down in just one blow. Often to kill an opponent it took one trooper throwing down his weapon and wrestling another man to a standstill so his companions could hack him to pieces, and no one ever slew anyone else without absorbing damage himself. Amidst the blood and the frenzy of the two armies, the roars of the Pokemon seemed an unimpressive display.

"I'm out," Jennifer hissed as he last arrow thudded into the thigh of a soldier across the battlefield.

"See about falling back ," said Misty, nodding towards the battle between Arcanine and Arbok. The combatants, both spattered in their own and their enemy's blood, continued to tear into each other while a pair of exhausted Ninetales observed from the flanks. "Try to get a few arrows."

Jennifer nodded and disappeared back into the ranks of Erika's and Alfred's soldiers. Standing near the front of the battle and making every effort to stay on the friendly side of the ever undulating line, Misty continued scanning the opposing side for trainers. Her two hovering Pokemon remained in front of her, spinning up into the air and destroying the occasional arrow loosed by Team Rocket's soldiers, though she made a point to keep Staryu and Starmie close.

"Misty," a feminine voice called from behind.

"What is it?" Misty turned around, spotting the soldier in the segmented armor and bronze mask immediately.

"Nothing," said the warrior. In a flash the figure lunged forward with drove her short spear into Misty's stomach. Wrenching the weapon to one side, the woman in the armor threw a pokeball to the ground, splitting it open in a brilliant flash of light. "I just wanted you to see it coming," said Jessie, reaching up and pulling the mask away from her face, exposing the sadistic sneer beneath.

Eyes wide and face awash with shock, Misty grabbed hold of the spear protruding from her abdomen as her orange shirt turned red around the wound. She could only stare at the wild glare in Jessie's eyes as a tall Machoke in a heavy chainmail shirt leapt out of the burst of light. Lashing out like a viper, the Machoke grabbed Starmie by one of its legs and swung down, smashing the Pokemon into the ground as Jessie stepped forward and shoved harder. As the spear burst out Misty's back, the Team Rocket agent put her mouth right by the impaled girl's ear.

"Don't feel bad," said the woman, twisting the spear as Misty's knees started to tremble. Around them, more screams broke out as people saw the enemy Pokemon in their midst. The Machamp stomped the stunned Starmie, shattering the red orb in its center and grinding the twitching Pokemon into the pavement. "Everybody dies sooner or later." She let go of the spear and stepped back as the Machoke smashed its fist down on a soldier's helmet, dropping him instantly.

Misty opened her mouth to speak, but the words gagged and died in her throat. The blood running down her stomach and legs began to pool on the ground at her feet. Jesse laughed once and reached to the bronze mask hanging by a strap beside her face. Fastening it back to conceal her identity, her eyes lit up as Misty went to her knees. The girl's hand twitched at the spear in her stomach, unable to grab it for the pain. Jesse took a minute to look down at her before turning around.

Glancing down at one of the dead men around her as the armored Machoke rampaged through Erika's ranks, Misty saw the sword still clenched in its owner's hand. As Jessie reached to her belt and grabbed another pokeball, Misty dropped to the ground on her side, reaching for the dad man's weapon and prying it from his fingers. She bit her lip so hard it drew blood as her face contorted with effort, but she pulled the sword free of the corpse's fingers and forced herself with a silent heave back to her knees, the exertion carving deep lines in her features.

As Jessie reached out to casually drop the pokeball, she screamed and her fingers locked around the little orb. Misty, still on her knees, ripped the sword out of Jessie's calf and stabbed again, catching the woman in the back of her knee and driving the tip of the blade completely through her leg. Jessie went down to one knee and tried to turn around. Still working around the spear shoved clean through her, crying now and screaming, Misty cut the sword from loose from Jessie's leg, nearly severing the limb at the knee, and lunged. The eyes behind the bronze mask went wide as the sword sliced through the leather guard beneath the helmet and drove into Jessie's throat beyond. Blood ran down the blade of the weapon like water from a straw and splattered on the ground below.

Misty took a hissing breath, tears streaming down her face as she twisted the blade and pushed herself even closer. She leaned as close as she could and growled in Jessie's ear. "Everybody dies," she said, falling forward and pulling both the sword and Jessie down with her. Collapsing in a heap, further twisting the spear in her stomach, Misty tried to shift onto her back, but only managed to further roll around on the crimson street. The rough pavement tore at her cheek and shoulder as the girl desperately tried to move away, only able to push herself with one leg at a time.

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Ash jumped back to avoid the stumbling Machamp. The mutilated Pokemon took heavy steps forward, reaching up with all four arms in a futile attempt to pry Charizard loose from its back. Charizard however remained lashed to the aberration's torso, his bottom set of claws dug in up to the cuticles in the Machamp's lower back and his front claws tearing at the Pokemon's chest like butcher's knives, carving away strips and hunks of flesh and exposing the Pokemon's ribcage to the open air. The dragon's fangs remained imbedded in the Machamp's neck, his elongated head twisting and further tearing open the puncture wounds until finally the four-armed Pokemon collapsed beneath Charizard's assault.

The dragon, breath a mix of sulfurous gas and smoke, tore its mouth away from the Machamp's neck and arched its head back, filling the air with a savage roar that echoed off the sides of the buildings lining the streets. Twenty feet away Ash's whole frame shook with the sound and he pressed his palms over his ears, unable to block out the ear-splitting cry. As the dragon, hide covered in long lacerations, stepped away from the Machamp's corpse and turned back to the battle behind it, Ash took a deep breath and surveyed the scene.

Towards the center of the battlefield he saw one of the monstrous Rhydon collapse as Onyx yanked its bladed tail from the creature's frame. Ash took another hard breath and grabbed Pikachu, running off towards the main battle and coming up behind the loose line of Mike's mercenaries. From there he caught glimpses of the battling Pokemon in the center.

"Oh thank god," he muttered, seeing a battered Arcanine standing over the corpse of a long purple serpent.

As the second Rhydon disappeared in a flash of white light, cries erupted from all over the battlefield. Mercenaries wearing Mayor Vicar's colors were throwing down their weapons. Dozens scattered for the alleys along the street and those nearer Erika's forces simply threw up their hands or dropped face down to the ground. In a matter of seconds, Team Rocket's army dissolved and either gave themselves up or ran for their lives.

SC

"Brought you a present," said Mike, wearing a wide grin. "That's why I was a little late." The captain turned and raised one hand as two of his men carried over a tall man wearing a black bag over his head. As the men forced the captive to his knees in front of Erika, Mike reached over and whipped the bag off the man's head. "Turns out the good mayor wanted us to protect him while he sent the police off to fight you."

Looking down at the mayor as he knelt with his hands tied behind his back and a thin line of blood dripping down his face from a gash above his eyebrow, Erika subdued a smirk. She turned to Mike and inclined her head a little.

"Well this saves me a lot of trouble," she said. "Thank you."

"Well I did have to take quite the detour to get him here alive for you and still make it on time for the fight," said the captain. "Wasn't easy," the grin didn't fade from his face.

"I'll see to it that you're compensated accordingly," said the princess, not taking her eyes off Vicar as the gagged man stared up at her. "Now the biggest question is what do I do with the likes of you?"

Mike cleared his throat and Erika glanced his direction. "If I may be so bold ma'am," said the mercenary. He gestured across the "T" intersection before the gym. To push back the night, Erika's men had brought out large floodlights and rigged them up to generators. Inside the circle of barricades a dozen of Erika's remaining guards stood watch over more than fifty prisoners captured during the fight, while the remainder of the princess's and the mercenary's troops had begun searching the surrounding streets for survivors and bodies. Several locals had come out of hiding and begun helping clean up the scene, donating carts, bedsheets, and manpower to the effort of rounding up the casualties.

"There's been a lot of damage done tonight, so I say you make an example of this guy," said Mike, nonchalantly reaching up to push his damaged pauldron back up his shoulder. Vicar tried to turn to the captain, but the strong hands of the soldiers at his sides held him in place. "Publicly humiliate him, then lock the sap in the deepest dungeon you can find so you don't turn him into a martyr. You might even offer his men amnesty, tell 'em they can avoid that fate if they'll work for you."

Erika shrugged, making her armor clink. "That's a decent idea. I'll take it under consideration. In the meantime, if you'll excuse me," she turned back to the entrance of the gym, "I'm very tired so I'll wish you all a pleasant night. Do whatever you feel is necessary with that..." she gestured to Vicar, before turning around and walking for the gym.

"What do you want done with the dead, ma'am?" the captain called after the princess.

"Burn them," said Erika, not bothering to turn around, "unless you'd rather we all be dead of disease in a week."

Mike sighed and looked between his men and their prisoner. "Bag him," said the captain, "and find a place to put him until we can figure something out."

Walking for the line of barricades Mike passed by a few soldiers, volunteers from both sides, carrying men on stretchers and bedsheets towards the gym. In the hour since the battle had ended the distinctions between friend and foe so clearly drawn at the beginning of the conflict had disintegrated and everyone worked to gather up the wounded and the dead. Spotting the massive orange canine immediately, Mike strode up to Ash who sat atop the big Pokemon and greeted the trainer.

"Congratulations," said the mercenary, voice still upbeat. "This is a win any way you slice it. Good job."

Face set like stone, eyes darting from one body on the ground to the next, Ash ignored the comment. "I can't find Misty," he said, leaning back to keep his balance as Arcanine leaned down to sniff at the ground. "She wasn't wearing my armor," he muttered. "I told her to wear my fucking armor..."

Mike's face instantly fell, his high spirits disappearing behind the mask he'd worn into the fight. He cast about at the bodies, not missing that many were too far gone to even identify by their uniform, having had their protective armor ripped apart by a Pokemon trying to get at the soft target inside the shell. Here on this section of the battlefield, where a hostile Machamp had come out of nowhere and wreaked havoc before five men had finally brought it down, neither Ash nor the mercenary saw any survivors.

"So where's your friend," asked the captain, "the other Gym Leader."

"Went to get his leg looked at," Ash answered curtly. "

Taking a heavy breath of the cool night air, Ash dismounted Arcanine and knelt down by a figure wearing the armor of Erika's guard. He rolled the still body over and, upon seeing the closed eyes behind the mask, pushed himself up to his knees, still scanning the bodies as Mike began walking from cadaver to cadaver and checking for survivors. Stopping where a pair of soldiers, ostensibly Team Rocket's troopers, had fallen in a heap, Ash reached and grabbed one of the two men by his shoulders and dragged him out to more open ground. Returning to the second dead trooper and the body he could now see underneath, Ash's eyes went wide and he grabbed the other soldier and heaved the corpse away.

"Misty!" he barked, recognizing the girl's face even in the poor lighting. He slipped one arm behind her back and held her up, his breath hissing to a stop when her head fell back and her eyes remained only half-open. Ash awkwardly tried to hold her head upright as he knelt and stared down at her. "Misty," he said again, voice wavering. "Wake up, wake up. I'm here," he fired off. "I said I'm here," the young trainer said again when the girl didn't answer.

Leaning forward and putting his ear directly beside Misty's mouth, Ash went absolutely silent as Mike appeared behind him. The mercenary's face remained devoid of any telling emotion as he surveyed the scene. His eyes did however seem to grow softer when he saw the jagged stab wound punched fully through the girl's unmoving abdomen.

Ash tried to take a breath, but his chest refused to move. The trainer felt his muscles lock up and his head grow light, hearing nothing from the body in his arms. "Please," he whispered, a desperate smile flitting across his face an instant before his features fell and darkened. "Not like this," he said, barely hearing his own voice. "Not like this."

Kneeling down beside the pair, Mike waited for a moment as Ash remained perfectly still. Without warning, the trainer sucked in a gasping breath and pulled the body in his arms into a tight embrace. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and every muscle in his frame began to shiver. Ash bit his lip and screwed his eyes shut. After a moment Arcanine took a few steps closer to the scene, though both he and the Pikachu on his back remained at a distance.

"I'm sorry," Ash choked quietly, the words sticking in his throat. "I didn't want this. I swear I didn't."

Tears found their way out of the corners of Ash's eyes and dripped onto Misty's stained shirt as a cool wind blew in from the west, filling the dry air suddenly with the scent of rain. Several minutes ticked by as Ash clutched at the girl in his arms until gradually his grip loosened and he lowered her back down to look at her. Teeth clenched, wet lines running down his face, Ash dropped his head and sat still for a while longer until a hand on his shoulder made him look up.

The mercenary captain stood over the young trainer. "I'll help you carry her back," he said, pulling on Ash's shoulder only just enough to nudge him. "We should go."

Ash took another look at Misty, his face drawn tight, and closed his eyes. Setting her down and standing up, the young trainer hung his head and forced himself to walk to his Pokemon. Still shaking and pressing his lips tightly together he ran a hand into Arcanine's thick mane, not really listening as the massive canine whimpered and yipped quietly. Pikachu walked up Arcanine's back to Ash and nudged him with his nose, but Ash only stood there, as still as any of the bodies on the ground until he leaned forward and rested his forehead against Arcanine's. He couldn't hold back any longer, and the young trainer began to cry.


	23. Chapter 23

AN: Let's keep it civil people; please refrain from any additional anti-Semitic slurs in either the reviews or personal messages.

* * *

Chapter 23 – The Coming Nightfall

The sound of shovels chopping into a pile of dirt and the subsequent grunts of effort were the only sounds breaking the eerie still of the hot afternoon outside Celadon. As the sun shone down from a cloudless sky, Ash and Brock stood between a large mound of earth and a shallow pit. Methodically the two men worked without speaking, gradually filling in the pit and then patting it down until it was nothing more than a patch of bear field in an otherwise unbroken lake of squat golden grass. Standing up straight, covered in dirt and sweat without one of the cool breezes from the previous night to drive away the heat, Ash walked to the head of the bare patch of ground and stood there for a long minute while Brock struggled and sat down.

As the older Gym Leader dropped his shovel and groped along his leg, running his thumbs along the stitched and bandaged laceration twisting down his thigh, he winced and his head spun from the stinging pain. Sitting beside him in the shallow grass, Pikachu approached the older trainer and nudged the man's ankle with his cold nose. Brock glanced down as the Pokemon rubbed the side of his leg with its head and then looked up at him. Brock reached down and scratched the Pokemon behind the ears like he'd seen Ash do many times before, then looked over to the small cluster of Pokemon a few yards away. Arcanine, Pidgeot, and Butterfree sat around one another while Golem and Rhyhorn observed the proceedings from a little farther back. Brock grimaced and looked back to Ash, silently standing over the improvised grave and staring down at the ground.

A long time passed before anyone moved or spoke, so long in fact that by the time Ash turned around to face Brock and the others, the sun had already dipped far enough in the sky to partially hide behind Celadon's still smoking skyline. Ash walked forward and sat down beside Brock with Pikachu beside them, and rested his hands on the ground. Still the two men remained silent and only looked off to the east as the sun set behind the city at their backs. As the sky gradually turned more and more red, Brock grabbed a handful of the grass around him, surprised by how quickly it had dried out from the morning's rainstorm.

"How's your leg?" Ash asked, somber but so suddenly that Brock and the Pokemon jumped.

"Um," said the older of the two. "It's alright. Still hurts like hell, but I've..." he paused and took a breath. "Really I'm more worried about you. I know this has got to be hard..."

The corner of Ash's lip twitched, like it was trying to show off a smile but couldn't quite complete the action. "She..." Ash stopped and sucked in a quick breath. For a moment he reached up and ran a hand over his mouth and chin, then simply covered them both with his palm as his eyes began to tear up. He blinked and quickly wiped his eyes. "She wanted to settle down," he said, resting his hands on his knees. "She wanted to go back to Vermillion and just... live."

Brock looked away as Ash's countenance fell and the younger trainer again reached up and hid his face in his hand. Several more minutes passed as Brock remained silent and Ash sat surrounded by his Pokemon. Arcanine, whimpering quietly, curled around Ash and set his head on the ground by his trainer's knee. Pikachu settled in a little closer, while Butterfree remained aloft and scanned the surround.

"Sorry," said Ash, pulling his hand away from his face and taking a shaky breath. He rubbed his red eyes again and put a hand beside Pikachu. "I just can't think of anything to make it make sense."

"I'm really sorry," Brock said. "But it's not your fault. There's nothing anyone could have done."

"You sure?" asked the younger trainer, voice quivering. "I'm the one who insisted on helping Erika. Misty-" he stopped again. "She didn't want any part of it. She trusted me. "

Brock remained quiet for a moment, weighing the situation. "You can't see the future," he said. "You couldn't have stopped it."

Ash shook his head. "I should have been able to do something instead of flying around like an idiot. I should have kept a closer eye on her. I should have known she was-"

"Listen to me," Brock interrupted, looking over at the other trainer with a grimace. "Ash, don't do this to yourself. Sitting there and beating yourself up over something we can't do anything about isn't going to do anyone a damn's worth of good, least of all you."

"What do you know about it?" Ash barked, turning on Brock startling the Pokemon around him. "You're not the one who keeps getting the shaft every time you turn around." He pushed himself up to his feet and thrust a finger at Brock. "You've never had to deal with losing everything, everything you care about over and over so you don't get to talk to me about beating yourself up. You don't have a fucking clue!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the older Gym Leader backpedaled. "I'm not trying to make you mad. I just don't want to see you tear yourself apart over this. It won't help anything."

Clenched his fists at his sides, Ash stepped backwards and looked away from Brock, glaring at Celadon. "You're sorry?" he fumed. "Do you have any idea what it even means to be sorry? Brock, tell me what you have to be sorry about?"

"I lost a friend here too," Brock answered. "And my best friend lost a lot more than that. Both of those seem pretty big to me."

"You don't get it," Ash fumed. After a long break, during which Ash's eyes just flitted from one building in the skyline to the next, the younger trainer took a breath and repeatedly flexed his hands. "I'm so sick of this," he growled, face hard.

"I know it can't look like it now," Brock stood up, his leg shaking. He started to take a step closer to Ash, but stopped short and remained a few paces away, "but it will get better."

Ash shook his head and again turned away. "Bullshit," he strained against screaming, jaw clenched. "That's exactly what I thought after Pallet burned. That's what I said after mom died, after Aisha died, after all of my friends died... I got through on that lie" he held his fists in front of his face, arms trembling as he screwed his eyes shut and went rigid. "I'm sick to death of telling myself it will get better! It never does and every time things start to look up the world finds a new way to screw me! God I'm sick of all this shit!

"Wait, just wait!" Ash's eyes grew wild as he looked towards the city and screamed. "Give me a month, a year, a fucking lifetime! However long it takes! I'll find whoever's responsible this and they will pay!"

Brock held his mouth tightly closed as Ash's rage gave way to a wince of pain. The young trainer wrapped his arms around his stomach and doubled over. A moment passed before Ash dropped to his knees and began tugging at his hair and beating the soft dirt with his fists, all in silence. The older Gym Leader looked away, face contorting as his stomach burned. Ash, every muscle shaking, dropped forward and pressed his forehead to the ground. His fingers clawed into the earth and he pushed himself back up to his knees. Face streaked with dirt and tears, he looked up at the sky and released his grip on the clods in his hands.

"Why me?" Ash asked, his voice somewhere between a whisper and a moan. "I'm not a bad person, I'm really not." Tears began dripping down his face again.

The older trainer waited, moving to the head of the improvised grave and picking up Misty's backpack. As Ash's breathing evened out, Brock slung the pack over his back. "You're not alone in all this," said the older Gym Leader, much quieter as he limped up beside Ash. He put a hand on the younger trainer's shoulder. "You've still got Jenny, me and your grandfather. You've got friends in Fuchsia and Vermilion. We're all right with you, one hundred percent."

"Is it because I've killed people?" Ash asked, not looking up at the older Gym Leader, "or not helped people I could have?" His eyes shifted down to the mud all over his hands. "I haven't done anything worse than the people I'm trying to stop but I keep getting punished for it."

"Sometimes," Brock said slowly, "bad things happen to good people. It's just the way things work."

Ash paused for a moment, looking down at his hands and balling them into fists. "Fine," he said, voice inexplicably even and more calm as the mud squeezed out from between his fingers. "If that's how it's going to be, I'll just be the bad thing that happens to bad people."

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," said Brock. "Maybe we should head back to town."

Ash nodded and took a deep breath. "Right, sure," he sighed. "Whatever, but we're going to the casino first."

SC

"The lights," Erika said, calm as ever.

"No, no no please!" the man tied to the heavy wooden chair screamed, straining against his restraints as the guard in the little concrete room reached for the light switch. "Don't-" he stopped as the guard flicked the switch. Instantly the copper wires running from the power box hummed, pumping the electrical current into the long steel screws drilled into the prisoner's kneecaps. The man's head jerked back and he howled, convulsing in the chair which shook despite the bolts holding it to the floor.

As she glanced away, Erika's face soured though she let the man writhe and shriek for a moment longer before gesturing to the guard. The armored man reached for the switch and cut the power to the wires. Immediately the light bulb hanging over the prisoner's head grew a little brighter, but it took a minute for the man to stop shaking. He slumped against his leather bonds and moaned a little, staring blankly at the screws in his knees and the copper lines that connected them to the light switch.

"Fine, fine," said the prisoner, completely out of breath and gasping every word, "whatever you want to know. You win."

"Good answer," said the self-proclaimed empress, walking forward. "Now, let's start with something easy: your name."

"Thomas Richard Vicar," said the prisoner, unable to look up.

Erika glanced at the guard by the door. When the soldier held up a small billfold and nodded to Erika after glancing inside, the empress turned back to her prisoner. "Richard, huh? And why in the world would you even think to challenge me in battle?"

The man gasped in a breath. "Boss said it would be easy," the prisoner groaned. "Said there would be plenty of time to relax after it was done. Said I'd be a hero." His frame shook again.

Erika smirked. "I guess your boss was wrong," she straightened up and walked around the back of the man's chair to the small plate of medical instruments at the rear of the room. "How's that adrenaline treating you?" she asked condescendingly, picking up and then discarding an empty syringe. "Normally you'd have passed out from the pain an hour ago, but that wouldn't be useful at all now would it? Fortunately there are drugs, most of them simple to acquire in bulk, that will keep you conscious no matter how much pain you endure, for hours or even days on end."

"I said I'd tell you what you want to know," said the recently deposed mayor. "So if you've got a question, ask it you bitch."

Before Erika could respond, a knock on the door broke the still of the room. Standing up straight, the empress glanced at the door and nodded to the guard. The man in the armor immediately pulled on the heavy metal handle and the door swung inward.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said a young boy, peering wide-eyed around the corner. He froze and looked between the woman and the prisoner.

"Well, out with it," said Erika, her voice betraying no impatience. "What's the matter?"

"Um," stammered the runner. "Ash Ketchum is back. Mike said you wanted to know when he got to the gate-"

"Yes, thank you," said the woman in the blue kimono. "On your way and bring a torch. I'll be out in just a moment."

The boy hesitated for a second longer, still staring at the prisoner in the chair before the door closed in front of him. The guard, a tall man with an unremarkable features and a swarthy complexion, remained facing his empress.

"I'll have someone to speak with you in just a little bit," said the empress.

As Erika walked for the door, leaving the paper on the prisoner's lap, she caught the guard twitch once and couldn't miss the exceptionally uncomfortable expression on his face. Thanking the man for his services, the empress quickly left the chamber and crossed the narrow concrete hall to the stairwell on the opposite side. Ascending that, proceeded and followed by servants with torches, she came out of the small bunker at the back of the wooded enclosure inside the gym's greenhouse. Spotting the pair of trainers, their Pokemon making them impossible to overlook, Erika walked forward with her escorts and held out her arms when she neared them.

"Gentlemen," she said amicably, ignoring the bustle of people all around the fort. "I'm glad you're back, though you did miss a lovely memorial service."

Ash looked over at the empress, his expression devoid of the saccharin friendliness she so expertly displayed. "I had one of my own to take care of, thanks," he said.

Erika's face fell only a little and her tone grew more somber. "Misty's name will be the first carved into the memorial wall, far more prominent that any other titles of the dead. Even my caretaker's name will only be listed after-"

"The Game Corner was empty," Ash interrupted, bringing Erika to a stammering halt. "There was a secret basement, but Vicar's men picked it clean. There wasn't a thing to implicate anyone in anything illegal."

A quick twitch of frustration in her cheek broke the empress' composure for only a second before she once again grew completely calm. "You're sure?" she asked.

Brock, still sitting on his Rhyhorn, grunted and swung his leg over his Pokemon's saddle. "Positive," he said. "We had Mike's men helping us comb through the place... for more than an hour," he glared at Ash, eliciting a flinch from the younger trainer, "but all we could find were empty shipping containers."

"That's unfortunate, but better than nothing," sighed the woman in the kimono, closing her eyes and raising a hand to press two fingers to her temple. "Where were the containers from? Was there a manifest?"

"No paperwork," Ash shook his head. "Vicar's men got to it first, but the crates were marked by a Silph Company, whatever that is."

"Silph is a corporation based in Saffron," said Erika, balling one hand into a fist and pressing a knuckle to her lip. "And they're big... very big. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

Ash and Brock looked at each other. "Nope," said the eldest.

"Well, for what it's worth, Silph if the biggest corporation this side of Indigo Plateau. They produce most of the higher end gear used by trainers across the region. All of the core cities contract with them for technology or services in one way or another. If they're connected with Team Rocket..." she stopped.

"How much money could Rocket be raking in from them, I wonder," muttered Brock.

"They'd be pulling in more than money," said the empress. "You'd be looking at tons of hard resources, advanced technology, and untold manpower. Saffron is after all an industrial powerhouse. That's why someone as powerful as Sabrina is there to protect it..."

Ash glanced between Brock and Erika. "Then that's where I'm going," he said. "My Pokemon are grounded, so what's the fastest road there?"

Brock, wincing as he did, turned on his heel to face Ash. "Remember what I said about not getting ahead of ourselves?"

"And I'll need that recommendation," Ash went on, looking to Erika again, "tonight if it's possible so I can set out immediately."

"Ash," Brock tried to interject.

Glancing between the two trainers, Erika settled on the younger, smirking a little to herself. "I'll have it ready in an hour."

"That works," said Ash. "Let your runner know I'll be in the Pokemon Center."

"Ash," Brock reached out and grabbed his teammate's arm.

"What?" asked the younger trainer as Erika turned and took her leave. He shirked out of Brock's grip, then leaned down and picked up Pikachu.

"Don't you think this is a little rushed?" asked the older trainer. "We can't just race off to Saffron half-blind. We need to-"

"To what, Brock?" Ash put Pikachu on his shoulder and crossed his arms. "What should I do? Sit back? Try to gather a little information first? Nothing?" He raised an eyebrow when Brock didn't respond. "That's not how it works," he went on. "That's never how it's worked. Brock, if there's anything I've learned over the last year it's that nothing is going to get done unless I do it, so, guess what I'm going to do."

Glancing sideways at his Rhyhorn, Brock put a hand on the Pokemon's saddle. "Could you at least give me a day or two?" he asked, nodding down to his leg. "This isn't going to fix itself overnight, unless you can pull Professor Oak out of that backpack."

"I'm leaving as soon as Erika hands me her letter to the Elite Four," said the trainer. "If you think you can keep up you're welcome to join me."

"What?" Brock exclaimed. He hobbled forward a little. "You're going to leave? Just like that while I'm stuck here?"

"I'm not saying you can't come," said Ash. "Nobody will stop you from riding Onyx or Rhyhorn to Saffron. All I said was that I'm leaving as soon as possible and that you can come if you think you're good for it."

"Ash, I really didn't want to say it, but now you're just being stupid and reactionary. I know this can't be easy, but think about what you're doing before you run headlong into a disaster," retorted Brock. "If we make a wrong move now then everything will have been for nothing."

Ash reached down to his belt and snapped open a pokeball. Out of the blinding white light, Arcanine swirled into existence and, upon seeing Ash, bumped the trainer with his head and yipped happily to see him. Ash reached over Arcanine's shoulder and pulled himself up onto the Pokemon's back, patting the massive canine and turning him about to face the fort's open gate.

"If I don't make a move now," Ash responded, "then everything will have been a waste. I'm going to put as much pressure as I can on Team Rocket, hit them hard and fast however I can. I'll figure out the rest when I get to Saffron." He paused as Brock glared up at him. "maybe it would be better it you stayed here, or went back to Pewter."

Brock shook his head a little. "Really," he said. "Why do you say that?"

"You've got a family to look after," said Ash. "I don't, so I've got a lot less to worry about not coming home to. On second thought, Brock I don't think I want you coming with me."

Stunned, Brock let his jaw hang loose before giving himself a quick shake to snap to. "So that's it then?" muttered the older Gym Leader. "Ash, you're being an idiot. Throwing yourself at Team Rocket isn't noble, it's not heroic. It's a fancy suicide and it wouldn't make Misty happy."

"I've tried to play it slow so far Brock," said Ash, "and look where it's landed us. Right now, I've got nothing holding me back from taking the initiative... no past, no future." The unbreakable grimace he'd worn for the passed day wavered just a little bit, but remained in place. "All I've got left is right now, and one hell of a chance to hit Team Rocket while they're off balance."

"If that's the case, you might want this." Brock pulled Misty's pack from his shoulder and slung it to Ash. "If I don't see you before tomorrow, I guess I'll see you around."

"Good luck, and thanks for all your help," said Ash. "I mean that." He tapped Arcanine's sides with his heels and the Pokemon bounded off for the gate, seemingly ignorant of or ambivalent towards the bandaged around its front paws.

Again Brock shook his head and, with a grunt of effort, pulled himself up onto Rhyhorn. "Stupid idiot," he mumbled. "That stupid, stupid, idiot is going to get himself killed." Swaying as the Pokemon slowly plodded forward, carrying him back to the pagoda, Brock kept brooding, catching himself gripping his Pokemon's reins in clenched fists and holding his jaw so tight it gave him a headache.

"Why won't he just listen to me?" Brock griped, stopping in front of the wooden palace.

"Why won't who listen?" asked a soft voice.

Jumping in his saddle and turning towards the sound, Brock immediately spotted the amber-eyed police officer standing a few feet to his left. Jennifer pushed herself up from the rail by the watering trough, where her two Ninetales sat hunkered down and quietly lapping up the water, and made her way towards the Gym Leader. Still tense from the jolt, and trying to ignore his having missed such an obvious sight as the two Pokemon and their trainer, Brock rested a hand on the pommel of the saddle and leaned forward a little without answering.

"You look like hell," said the police officer, stopping and holding a hand up to Brock. "Need help?"

Taking her hand and leaning most of his weight on her, Brock let himself down from the saddle and rested against Rhyhorn with a groan. "I've spent way too much time walking around," said the Gym Leader.

Jennifer glanced down at his leg, unable to see the bandages beneath his heavy canvas pants, but unable to miss his limp. "Didn't the doc tell you to stay off it for a few days?" she asked.

"I had things to do," said Brock. "Jennifer, I hate to ask, but can you give me a hand in?" Brock muttered as he held out a pokeball and Rhyhorn disappeared into a blast of light. "These stairs are going to be the death of me."

"Sure," said the woman, dipping down and, much to Brock's surprise, grabbing the Gym Leader's arm and pulling it over her shoulder. "And please, it's just Jenny. People don't need to be so formal, at least when I'm not in uniform."

"Jenny then," said Brock, leaning on her as the police officer stood up and took almost all of his weight off his bad leg. One step at a time she helped him get up to the porch of the pagoda and then leaned the Gym Leader against a wall. "Thanks for sticking around to help out yesterday," sighed Brock.

"It was good to get a little payback," said Jenny, putting her hands behind her back, taking a deep breath of the crisp night air, and leaning against the wall next to Brock. "I can't really say I enjoyed it, but then again life's almost never about what you enjoy."

Brock pressed his lips together without answering, prompting jenny to glance over at him.

"I'm sorry about Misty," said the woman. "I know she was your's and Ash's friend... how're you guys taking it?"

"Not well," Brock answered, looking out over the edge of the porch and watching as men in armor, women, and children went this way and that, still cleaning up after the battle and taking stock of losses on both sides. "I'm really worried about Ash," he went on. "He's not taking it well at all."

"How close were they?" asked Jenny.

"Given our line of work, too close I think," said Brock, his tone heavy with fatigue as he rubbed his eye. He slid down the wall and rested his hands on his knees. "I guess I should have seen it coming. Considering how much time we spend in harm's way, taking one life-threatening risk after another, it would be stupid to assume that everyone would make it out alive... Still, I hoped."

"It wasn't stupid," said Jenny. "A little naive maybe, but not stupid. When I was in the Police Academy one of the first lessons I learned was that you should always prepare for the worst, while hoping for the best."

"That's just it though," Brock clenched his fists, though his voice remained level. "Ash and I both went in expecting the best and not even considering that the worst might happen. He thought about it sure, but he never really made any mental preparations for it and now... now I'm worried that he might have gone off the deep end."

Jenny turned and stood away from the wall, facing Brock. "How do you mean?" she asked, offering her two Ninetales a sidelong glance as they walked up from the watering trough and sat beside her. "What's he saying?"

"It's what he's doing," said the Gym Leader. "He's leaving for Saffron tonight after telling me to go back to Pewter."

"What?" Jenny gasped.

"My reaction exactly," muttered Brock.

"He's going to get himself killed. He can't do that."

"I can't stop him," said Brock. "He's dead set on it and..."

"And what?" asked the police officer, suddenly incredulous.

"And I'm not sure I should try to dissuade him," Brock went on. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head on the wall. For a second he just listened to the sounds of the fort, people talking and boots stomping, while Jenny waited for him to collect his thoughts. "If Ash is set on making life hell for Team Rocket, then there's no doubt in my mind that he'll find a way to do it. Some part of me really doesn't want to be around, just on the off chance I got in his way or slowed him down... besides, he was right about one thing."

"And that would be?" Jenny muttered, following Brock's gaze out over the fort.

"I'd probably slow him down right now."

Jenny shook her head. "I hate it when people let their feelings get in the way of, of," she swirled one hand through the air, "common sense."

Brock laughed once and looked up at her. "Common sense would probably dictate that we all pack up, go home, and stop killing ourselves trying to fight Team Rocket." He stopped and shrugged. "At any rate, I'm at a loss. I've never had to try and help someone who just had their life turned upside down."

"Maybe," said Jenny, "he just needs a little time to get it all straight. So you're not going to follow him to Saffron?"

Brock shook his head. "If he doesn't want my help, then he doesn't want my help."

"That's a great attitude," Jenny muttered.

SC

Eyes darting from one pile to the next, Ash quickly and silently took stock of all of the items he'd laid out on the floor of his room at the Pokemon Center. After he'd sorted all of his personal belongings into piles mentally labeled 'useful' and 'trash' the young trainer began quickly putting the useful items back into his bag while leaving those he considered garbage, mostly little odds and ends he'd picked up in previous towns and never used. Once he'd managed to pack up his notably lighter backpack, Ash turned from his spot on the floor and looked at the bed, where Pikachu sat licking himself next to another backpack. For a long minute the Gym Leader only stared at the pack, his face tight.

"Hell with it," he muttered, standing up and walking up to the bed.

As Ash reached for the pack, Pikachu glanced up at him without making a sound and only watched the trainer. Ash undid the ties holding the backpack closed and turned it upside down, spilling its contents out over the bed. Clothes, plastic cases, and small weapons scattered across the comforter, and Ash waited a moment before beginning to sort the mess into a number of distinct piles. All of the clothes, well over half the bag's contents, he tossed aside, while a hatchet and a few wickedly thin knives he moved to the floor beside his own backpack. Two of the plastic cases held tubes of lipstick and other articles of makeup, leaving Ash to shake his head and wonder why Misty had wasted the space on bringing something she never used. He tossed those aside and picked up a belt, complete with magnetic clips and two pokeballs. Detaching those from their clips, Ash held one in each hand and read the labels Misty had taped onto each sphere.

"Munchies?" he muttered, looking at one the labels. "Really?" Ash sighed. He pulled the tape off the pokeball and clipped the little orb to his belt. Vaporeon's pokeball he left labeled and put behind Arcanine's, before turning and scanning the piles on the bed one last time. Frowning, he reached out and picked up the empty backpack, unzipping a pouch he'd missed on the side and turning it upside down. As another pokeball dropped out of the pouch and plopped on the bed, Ash again tossed the pack aside.

"Almost forgot," he said, picking up the purple sphere and holding it up to the light and turning it. The Masterball flickered and Ash quickly turned and put it in his pack, along with all of the weapons he'd uncovered.

Jerking towards the door as a loud knock shattered the calm of the small room, Ash immediately reached to his boot and pulled a knife from under the cuff of his pants. Demanding to know who was there, Ash stepped to the door and put his hand on the knob. He heard a high voice answer that Erika had sent a package for him, prompting Ash to sigh and put away the knife. He opened the door and stepped onto the threshold, immediately spotting the sparkling purple eyes under the violet hood as the girl in the door held up an envelope.

"Evening stranger," Janine chirped, holding a manilla envelope out for Ash. "Long time, no see."

Ash stepped back, his mouth shaping itself to form a word he didn't utter, and wiped the look of surprised confusion from his face. "Janine?" he managed to ask. "What are you doing here?"

"Well right now," said the girl. "I'm delivering the badge and recommendation I lifted from Erika's page," she walked by him into the room, stopped and looked around, then set the envelope on the little end table by the bed. "What happened in here?" she asked, turning and sitting on the foot of the bed. "Arcanine get in a fight with Charizard?"

"I mean what are you doing in Celadon?" asked Ash, shaking his head.

"Thought there might be some trouble going on," the girl in the sweatshirt shrugged, reaching up and pulling back her hood. "Truth be told, one of the agents my father had stationed here didn't report in on time so I decided to come to town and make sure she," Janine paused, "understood that there had been a change in management back home. Imagine my surprise when I show up and find that you managed to start and end a war in the time I spent getting here."

Ash crossed his arms and looked between his visitor and the door. "Well," he muttered, "can I have the package then?"

Quickly nodding, Janine got up and grabbed the envelope, then crossed the room and offered it to him. "Sure sure," she said when he took it, "here you go." Janine watched him for a second as Ash ripped off the top of the envelope and dumped the little badge inside into the palm of his hand. "You alright?" she asked, her tone fading immediately from amicable to deadly serious as she stared at him. "You look ill."

Ash focused on the colorful bit of metal in his hand, and set the Erika's papers on top of his pack. "Misty's dead," he said, pinning the badge next to the others on the inside of his jacket.

"Oh my god I'm sorry," Janine's eyes went wide. She reached over and almost put a hand on his shoulder, but pulled back.

Ash's jaw tightened for a split second and he looked away. "Me too," he said after a quick pause and a deep breath.

Simply staring at him for a heartbeat, Janine turned and sat back down on the foot of the bed. "Um... Wow, I didn't mean... Are you..." she trailed off. "I'm sorry."

Ash pulled a chair away from the table and sat down. "So you came all the way to Celadon," he changed subjects, "to talk to one of your agents? Couldn't you have sent someone to take care of that?"

"There's more to it than that, of course," Janine piped up. "I might also be following up on reports of Celadon's beloved Mayor Vicar being linked to contaminated drug sales in Fuchsia. When that turns out to be true it means I'll have to have a chat with him."

"Vicar's in a hole he's never getting out of," said Ash. "Erika's got him now."

"Oh shit," said the girl. "Well that's probably worse than what I was going to do to him. All that leaves for me up here is Saffron."

Ash glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What's in Saffron?"

"Silph Company," Janine answered. "Among other things."

"And what does Silph have that you want?" asked Ash.

Hesitating, a thin grin creasing her lips, Janine reached up and fiddles with the edge of her hood. "Several things," she answered. "Not the least of them being, potentially, information on why a certain organization is so focused on certain cave outside of Cerulean City."

"And how did you figure all this out?" asked Ash, uncrossing his arms and turning to face her.

Janine grinned. "Information is my weapon," she said. "And I might have gotten lucky in that my f- Koga left some of his correspondences with Team Rocket behind when he bugged out. I've been decoding messages for a while and it's paid off." She paused as Ash went quiet. "So..." the girl in the hoodie began. "I was actually thinking that we, I mean you, Brock, and I, might all travel to Saffron together... since you're heading to all the gyms and Saffron's is the closest now, I mean. It'll be just like when you guys were in Fuchsia except that-"

"Brock is going back to Pewter," said Ash.

"What?" Janine pushed herself up to her feet. "Why? What's his problem?"

"His leg's shot, he'd be a liability," Ash shrugged. "And he's got a family to look after so I didn't want him to come with me."

"You can't go alone," the girl barked. "That's just dumb."

"Brock might not like it," said Ash, "but he's got too much riding on him staying alive to come with me." The young trainer put his hands in his pocket and looked at the floor. "Besides, he'll have plenty he can do from Pewter."

Janine shook her head. "Regardless," she said, "we're both going that direction and we're on the same side with the same goals. Why don't we travel together: safety in numbers and all that."

Ash looked over at her and went quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said.

"Why not?" asked Janine. "It seems obvious to me."

Ash shook his head. "It's going to be a dangerous trip," said the trainer. "And people tend to die around me."

"I'm not too worried about the odds of survival," said the girl in the hoodie, "for somewhat obvious reasons."

"Oh," Ash breathed. "Sorry, I forgot. How are you doing?"

"It hasn't killed me yet," shrugged Janine.

Ash re-crossed his arms and looked back at the floor. "Hell with it," he sighed. "As soon as I finish putting things away, I'm leaving. If you think you can keep up then I can't stop you from coming along."

A broad smirk settled on Janine's face and she put a hand on her hip. "The question is," she said, "do you think you can keep up?"


	24. Chapter 24

AN: After nutty holidays, crazy families, psychotic bosses, and the worst flu in the history of human illness I emerge, alive, with another chapter.

Another recent scheduling change at work has left me readjusting to another set of hours. Basically this leaves me with far fewer, but larger, blocks of time to write, so we'll have to see what happens.

Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy! Good luck to everyone studying for finals.

* * *

Chapter 24 – Webs

It must have been sunset, or some time fast approaching sundown if the crimson light streaming in through the windows meant anything. To Ash it seemed that the entire house must have consisted of nothing but jet colored wood dully illuminated by sanguine light falling in twisting and chaotic patterns through black lattices and oddly shaped panes of glass. He stood at the center of an antechamber from which radiated four hallways lined with doors and windows. The young trainer looked up, seeing that he stood on an island of red in a lake of black, and noted the skylight overhead displayed no clouds: only an unbroken, glowing, perfectly uniform picture of red.

"This..." Ash muttered, looking around. "How exactly did I get here?" he asked, only then realizing that he could hear his voice as plainly as if he were speaking, despite his not having opened his mouth. Vague memories of departing Celadon City bounced around in his head, but Ash could only recall stopping for the night to camp, not entering any house or even leaving the road for that matter. "This has to be a dream," he thought, hearing the words as an audible voice.

Standing still at the intersection of the four hallways, Ash waited for a length of time he couldn't judge, hoping to wake up. When that failed, the trainer reached up and patted the side of his face, feeling the sensation but remaining where he stood. After some time, he walked to the entrance of one hall and looked down the passage. Studying it for a second, he shrugged and moved to the second hall, then the third, and then the forth. Judging them all to be identical, aside from the different patterns of red light washing in through the asymmetrical windows, Ash stopped and turned around once to get another look at the chamber.

Flinching, his guts twisting beneath his ribs, Ash saw a different room before him. The antechamber had vanished, replaced with an otherworldly vision of a massive lobby in a skyscraper made of glass. The lobby seemed to glow red in the sanguine light that still radiated from the luminescent sky, the dull illumination throwing deep, dark shadows all around the statues of men and Pokemon that stood around the lobby. Ash swallowed the lump in his throat, turning in the utter stillness and looking back down the hallway, which now lead to a winding glass staircase. Following the structure with his eyes, looking up passed the many landings and branches, Ash traced the stairs all the way to the ceiling and walked to the base of the massive spiral.

As he lifted his foot to the first stair, Ash jerked and stumbled when his foot came down on nothing but empty air. The staircase, and the rest of the building vanished entirely, and the young trainer immediately caught himself in yet another dark room. The chamber remained lit by the same red and black illumination, though the roles were now reversed. From the single skylight overhead, a blackness radiated and filled the room's deep red walls with shadows the color of blood.

Stopping and looking around, Ash gaped, struck by the similarity between this room and his memories of his grandfather's laboratories. The silhouettes of tables and lab equipment adorned the room in semi-circles, like rows of teeth in a great monster's mouth, the concentric rings of tables emanating out from the far wall of the room against which sat a massive silhouette that towered up to the high ceiling.

The great orb, drawn in inky red, sported numerous spires jutting out of its frame, and thick cables that ran from its center to the floor and walls all around it. As Ash stared at it, the orb seemed to vibrate without moving, as if the air around it shook in its presence but, lacking the energy to flee, could only surround the structure with illusory ripples.

"I don't care," the low whisper echoed in the room, prompting Ash to whirl around and look for the source. "Just maintain containment."

Ash quietly drew in a slow breath, looking all about the room but not seeing the source of the voices as another whisper answered the first.

"-the charts," it said, fading in and out. "-power to-"

"Make it work," the first whisper grew louder, as if shouting from far away. "Just fix it! Get it working now!"

Shivering at the fury in the screaming whisper, Ash looked back at the great sphere, his eyes shifting to the tiny shape standing beside it. A figure no taller than a child, ghostly pale with straight black hair that ran to the floor, stood with her hand on the orb. The child remained perfectly still, with her face turned away from the young trainer, looking at the structure.

Ash tried to keep himself from shaking, his eyes growing wider as he took a few steps forward, the shadowy benches and equipment breaking around him like mist. "Hello?" he called, the word feeling hollow in his mouth.

The little girl, for Ash saw as she turned to him that it was indeed a young girl, looked at him and all the world seemed to freeze. The ghostly child studied him for a minute, both eyes, one so deeply red it seemed to draw in and lock away any light, the other so vibrantly purple as to almost glow, fixed on the young trainer.

In a voice like a dozen children speaking at once but in different rhythms, she asked,"what are you doing in my dream?"

Ash couldn't answer. The nightmare overpowered his free will and he stood motionless as the little child turned completely towards him and pointed up at the device protruding from the wall. "Maybe you can help me," she said.

Ash jolted, gasping and opening his eyes as a loud pop rang in his ears. From her spot by the campfire, Janine turned to look at him.

"Sorry," she said, going back to laying new sticks in the flames. "The wood's a little wet."

Sweating and breathing heavy, Ash sat up and rubbed a hand over his face. "Don't worry about it," he said, spotting around and seeing Arcanine, awake but lazily lounging directly behind him. The trainer scooted back and leaned against the big canine as Pikachu, sleeping beside the dog, woke up and hopped into Ash's lap. The trainer began idly running his hand over the rodent's ears and rubbing the back of his neck with Pikachu chittering happily as Arcanine's tail began thumping against the ground. "I wasn't sleeping too well anyway. What time is it?"

Janine glanced at her watch. "Four-thirty," she said. "We should be able to reach Saffron today without too much trouble. If we hurry, we might even be there before it gets dark."

Rubbing his temples, Ash looked up at the trees and immediately spotted the arachnid figure hiding in the foliage overhead. "I guess that, until then, I'm just going to have to get used to sleeping under a giant shadow..." he muttered.

"Ariados has saved me from more than one ambush," Janine grinned without looking up at the spider. "He's quiet and doesn't gripe when I leave him out to keep watch."

"The last time I slept in a forest, surrounded by huge bugs..." Ash twitched once and trailed off.

"If it makes you feel any better," said the girl in the hoodie, grabbing a tin cup from the ground beside the burning logs, scooting over, and holding it out for Ash, "he only eats other bugs."

Ash took the cup as Janine reached for its mate and took a sip. He grimaced as the two-day-old coffee hit his tongue, but finished it off with a gulp as Janine settled next to him and leaned against Arcanine with her own drink.

"I should probably get a warm blooded Pokemon or two," she said, snuggling her back into Arcanine's fur as the big canine watched her with one eye, "if only for the warmth. Very nice."

Ash shrugged and set his cup aside, looking into the fire as his expression melted into a blank stare.

"So..." said the girl. "You feeling alright?"

"Bad dreams," he answered.

"Want to talk about them?"

"No."

"Okay," Janine pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her chin between them, and stared with Ash into the flames as the minutes began slipping silently by.

After an unspoken agreement, Ash and Janine both got their feet and began breaking their small camp off the side of the road. They kicked out the fire and gathered up their bedrolls, stuffing them away in packs. Janine clicked her tongue and her spider dropped out of the canopy, righted itself in midair, and landed almost silently beside her. She hopped up on the Pokemon's back and grabbed hold of the long hairs that covered the arachnid's body as Ash swung a leg over Arcanine's back and pulled himself into the saddle.

When Pikachu jumped into Ash's lap, the young trainer tapped Arcanine's sides with his heels and both the massive canine and the huge spider set off south. They weaved silently through a little less than fifty yards of dense undergrowth and came out on the roughly carved path that lead through the miles and miles of forest separating Celadon from Saffron City. While Janine checked the small marker she'd set up on the side of the road the previous night, Ash stirred Haunter from his backpack with a mental nudge and ordered the ghost to begin making regular patrols around the trainers.

"People passed by here last night," said Janine, getting back on her mount.

"Any clues as to how many?" Ash responded.

The girl shook her head and the trainers set off down the road. "Small group, probably not more than five. It didn't look like they spotted our marker or advanced anywhere near our camp. Still, I'm glad we're not taking the main road."

"Even if it's safer, Route 5 curves too far North. This way will be quicker," said Ash.

Other than the soft patting of Arcanine's paws and the occasional tap as Ariados' normally silent step struck a rock or bit of debris, neither trainer heard anything above the quiet sound of the forest surrounding the road. Ash busied himself with looking all around, his eyes darting from one gap in the trees to the next as he watched for any sign of trouble. When Haunter grabbed his attention over their empathic link, Ash straightened up in his saddle and turned his focus to his invisible companion.

In a tone that dripped with something almost like disappointment, Haunter relayed to Ash the relative tranquility of the road ahead. Any creatures who even noticed the trainers' passing immediately withdrew deeper into the forest and hid. Ash listened to the ghost's report, daring to let his thoughts wander a little, until they drifted seemingly without his consent back to the battle of Celadon. As his face grew blank and his grip tightened on the reins in his hands, Ash began playing out the events of the battle over and over in his head, analyzing every move he remembered making and trying to find some flaw in his plan, trying to find where he let something slip.

Ash took a deep breath, prompting a silent glance his way from Janine, and shook his head. He almost opened his mouth to say something, but a cold bolt through his chest instantly silenced him and froze him in his saddle. As his chest tightened and he sucked in a shocked breath, Janine looked towards him and studied him for only a second. Just then, Ash turned towards his left as Haunter came silently shrieking out of the woods, calling for Ash and circling around him like a whirlwind.

"You alright?" asked Janine as Ash took his hand away from his chest.

Fighting to unclench his jaw and block out the phantom noise of Haunter's incoherent yelling, Ash looked all around him for a threat before shouting with his mind for his spectral companion to be silent. The ghost stopped circling and began hovering beside him.

"I'm just a sick of this forest," Ash groaned, simultaneously reaching out to Haunter and trying to ask it what was wrong. The instant Ash's consciousness touched the ghost's Ash again went rigid in the saddle as overwhelming terror flooded across the link.

_Psychic,_ Haunter whispered in Ash's ear. _Strong psychic here. Now. Need to hide._

"Just tired," Ash repeated as calmly as he could, forcefully pushing his link with the ghost to the back of his mind as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "Hey," he turned to the girl in the hoodie. "How exactly does Ariados detect intruders?" asked Ash, looking at Arcanine. The canine's nonchalant, almost relaxed, gait did nothing to settle Ash's nerves.

A smirk flitted across Janine's lips and she patted her mount on its back. "Ari here has one of the finest-tuned tremor senses in the world. It can pick up on the vibrations of a Rattata walking across soft ground a hundred yards away."

"Good to know," said Ash, again turning to Haunter. _Where is it? _he asked the ghost.

_Here,_ said the ghost, drifting into the pack on Ash's back and going silent.

_Where?_ Ash asked again, turning in his seat to look around.

_**Greetings again**_, the voice reverberated like a great bell from far underwater in Ash's mind, making him whirl forward and cast about the forest for the source.

Instantly, Ash spotted Pikachu sitting on the back of Arcanine's neck, turned around and looking at him with a blank stare and eyes that glowed a subdued purple. The little Pokemon took a step closer to Ash and looked up at him, sitting absolutely still.

_**You are headed to Saffron, this is good, I have something I need you to do**_, the baritone voice radiated from Pikachu.

"Mewtwo," Ash half whispered, half hissed at the little yellow Pokemon. "Get away from my Pikachu." He threw a wary glance towards Janine, only to notice that she stared straight ahead of her and seemed intently focused on the road.

_**She is distracted,**_ said Mewtwo, a**_nd your Pikachu is unharmed. The overshadowing simply puts it into a comfortable sleep for a time. Now, when you got to Saffron you will need to-_**

"Hold it," Ash growled. "What are you doing here?"

_**Telling you what you should do.**_

"You just show up, take over my Pikachu, and think you can order me around?"

_**Yes,**_ Mewtwo toned.

"Well," Ash stammered, taken aback by the completely apathetic tone in the psychic's message, "you can't. The last time you came out of nowhere like this, I got my ass kicked. Besides, I have things I need to do too."

Remaining absolutely still, Pikachu's purple eyes stared at Ash. _**You survived the events surrounding our last meeting due to my help and accomplished both our goals with my direction. Our aims were the same then and they are the same now. I am here to provide you with more direction and save you a great deal of blindly fumbling about. That is all.**_

Ash's face soured, but he nodded. "Fine," he muttered. "What's going on?"

_**I am fast nearing the end of my plan,**_ Mewtwo's words grew a little louder, though his tone remained as devoid of emotion as ever before. **_Only two great blows remain to be struck and it seems fate wishes you to make them both._** Mewtwo stopped and Pikachu twitched. _**Hm, inconvenient,**_ muttered the psychic as the overshadowed rodent looked passed Ash and off into space.

"What?" asked Ash. "What is it?"

_**Nothing about which you can do anything at present,**_ Mewtwo went on as Pikachu turned back to Ash. **_Go to Saffron, get into Silph Company's main building. There you will find a great many of Team Rocket's assets, but destroying them all will take time we can not spare. Rather make your way to the ninth basement and find their Telesthetic Lab. Free Sabrina from her captivity and she will have further instructions._**

Ash's face twisted. "Wait," he said. "If Team Rocket's been massing resources at Silph then we should take them-"

_**Free Sabrina**_, Mewtwo repeated, **_and their operation in Saffron will crumble. Do that and you will see._**

"I don't see how that will work, or why we're in such a hurry," said Ash.

_**Understanding is not necessary,**_ the psychic said through Pikachu. **_But it will come in time. Will you do this?_** Mewtwo's tone grew almost rushed and his overshadowed vessel looked back off into space.

"You're obviously busy," said Ash. "I'll get it done. Go."

_**Good,**_ Pikachu started to turn away, hesitated for a split second, then looked back at Ash, eyes still glowing purple. _**Ash Ketchum, **_the psychic's voice resonated. **_Are you prepared to do what is necessary to win, even if collateral damage reaches unprecedented levels?_**

Pausing for a moment, Ash's mind darkened as his thoughts turned back to the night after the battle in Celadon. Without his direction his mind ran over the events and an instant later he shook himself out of the memory, face hard. "I'll do whatever it takes, no matter what."

_**Excellent.**_

A hint of a scowl flitted across Ash's brow before his face returned to the blank mask he'd worn for the passed days. "Mewtwo," he said. "Can I ask you a question?"

_**This is not the time for questions, **_said the psychic. **_There are matters-_**

"Take a second and answer me," said Ash, his whole demeanor changing and growing cold. "I'm doing all this to help you so in return you can help me a little."

Something like a sigh sounded over the link between Pikachu and Ash. _**Fair.**_ _**Your question?**_

"Have you," Ash clenched the reins in his hand for a second though his face remained as calm as before. "Have you ever heard of a way to bring someone back from the dead?"

The purple glow in Pikachu's eyes narrowed as the Pokemon cocked its head only a little. _**To do so**_... Pikachu took a step back on Arcanine's neck as the forest continued to roll by, _**would require an act of selfishness beyond your comprehension.**_

"But it could be done?" Ash leaned forward, dropping Arcanine's reins and raising his voice, prompting a wary glance from his mount. "It's possible?"

_**No.**_

"But you just said," Ash barked, his face washing over with a mix of shock and anger. "I'm tired of being caught up blind in all this shit! Quit playing games with me! Is it possible or isn't it?"

_**Ash Ketchum,**_ said Mewtwo, his tone growing deeper. **_There are things that you can not yet be expected to understand. When we meet face to face, for we certainly will, I will explain all then. Until that time however, I must ask that you trust me and follow my instructions. Can you do this?_**

Shaking his head and drawing in a deep breath, Ash clenched his fists, then reached for Arcanine's reins. "Sure," he breathed. "Sure, but you're damned right that we're going to meet face to face and you're going to line all this out for me."

_**If that is what it takes, that will be my end of this bargain,**_ said Mewtwo. **_Free Sabrina. She will instruct you further._**

With a quiet sigh Pikachu fell forward and Ash lashed out to catch him. Simultaneously, Janine shivered in her seat and looked over to Ash.

"Sorry, you say something?" asked the girl in the hoodie.

Holding a dozing Pikachu in his lap, Ash shook his head. "Must have been the wind," he said, looking down at the little yellow Pokemon as Janine shrugged and went back to watching the road. Ash stared passed Pikachu and, after several long breaths, a small tug at the edge of his lip began to form a grin on his face.

_Maybe,_ he muttered in his mind. _Just maybe... there might be a way._ Ash glanced up and caught the uncertainty in Arcanine's eye as the massive canine looked back at him. The trainer leaned forward and ran a hand through Arcanine's mane, straightening out some of the tangles and removing a few bits of debris. Almost immediately Arcanine turned back around, started wagging his tail, and panted happily. A moment later, Haunter slunk out of Ash's pack, asking if it was safe to come out before resuming its patrols.

SC

Sounding like thunder clapping just overhead, the golden beam of energy split the air and made everything on the ground below tremble and shake, even before tearing into a four story building and exploding like a miniature sun. The building's entire front facade blew outwards in a spray of shrapnel and dust that washed into the city streets below as the morning again grew quiet.

Knowing better than to trust the calm, none of the men in the municipal building's lobby dared move into the street as the structure only a few doors down from their location collapsed. The twelve soldiers in black and olive uniforms stayed knelt near the rear of the big room, either pointing their rectangular riot shields at the front windows or hiding behind the men with the shields. None flinched but all stiffened when a second, far louder explosion shattered the otherwise calm day, this one even closer. The soldier's ears rang as the top floor of the apartment across the street came crashing down in the road like an avalanche.

"How much longer are we going to stay here?" shouted one of the uniformed men knelt behind his shield.

Standing just outside the tight formation, a tall figure concealed from head to toe in heavy black armor knocked on the shield to its left to get the soldiers' attention. "Until they get tired of firing at us," the armor's occupant shouted through his helmet, eying the troops from behind a tinted visor.

"Shit," laughed a young trooper in the back. "That soon? They haven't hit anything yet." A few chuckles and affirmative grunts ran throuh the group.

"Corporal Eliad, cut the small talk," ordered the man in the black armor, "unless you plan on talking the Johtans to death."

"Sir," responded the first soldier, "would you like me to try, sir?" Another ripple of laughs pulsed through the twelve man patrol, but stopped instantly as an ear-splitting scream tore through the building. This time the frame of the structure shook so violently it knocked the armored commander to one knee as great chunks of rock fell into the street from the top of the soldiers' hiding spot. The ceiling shook, a chandelier fell and shattered, and drywall dust shook loose from the walls. Every man not holding a shield put a hand over his mouth and nose as the hurricane of wind and dust blew into the room and obscured for a moment the otherwise copious daylight.

"Squad!" shouted the commander, his voice muffled through his helmet. "Everybody into that shop across the road, now!"

In unison each man grabbed the weapon at his side, got to his feet, and hustled to the door. As the structure groaned and rumbled, some debris still dropped from the top of the building but bounced mostly harmlessly off of helmets or the armored vests worn by the soldiers. The shield-equipped troopers fanned out to the flank of the small formation as the others instinctively pointed short, sturdy spears over the heads of their companions while all twelve picked their way over piles of rubble and crossed the street to a narrow single story building.

Grip firm on his spear, Corporal Eliad followed the gazes of the rest of his squad as another peal of thunder tore through the city on the clear day. This time the beam of energy, almost ten feet across the young soldier reasoned, split the sky directly overhead. Blasting into some building farther south in the city with a ground shaking boom, the beam left the Corporal's eyes dazzled.

"What the hell are they throwing at us?" asked another soldier in the squad, just as the group of men made it into the shop. They all turned to face the door, those with shields throwing them up in front to block any debris as the building in which they'd stood not a minute before began to collapse.

"Hyper Beams," the commander said a moment later, walking passed the polycarbonate shield wall and poking his head outside to survey the street once the municipal building had mostly finished toppling. "Probably from a couple of Gyarados..."

"Man, we are screwed, we are so screwed," said the soldier, shaking and on the verge of hyperventilation as he held his shield in front of Eliad. "Johto catches us with our pants down, rolls across half of Cinnabar like a fuckin' Snorlax on a rampage, our Air Force is gone jerking off, and now we got Charizards and Skarmory and shit raining death from above. We're so-"

"Take a breath," Eliad cut him off. He grabbed the soldier's elbow and forced him to rest his shield at a steeper angle. "You're a soldier of Cinnabar. Quit bitching, man up, and get ready to kick some ass! Got it?"

Ducking inside, the commander stepped back from the door as a pair of shapes raced through sky, casting speeding shadows on the ground an instant before the soldiers' refuge shook and another Hyper Beam demolished a building a few blocks away. He dusted down his armor and stepped back to the door of the small bookstore, waving at someone Eliad couldn't see. A few seconds later another soldier, dressed in a uniform identical to those of the eleven troopers appeared in the doorway.

"Captain Zvika," the new arrival panted as the man in the black armor closed the door. "Alitza and the rest of the specialists are holed up on the north edge of town; Fillmore Street in the 1200 block, with two infantry platoons and a full battery of heavies ready to halt the enemy advance. The engineers got them dug in pretty good but they're requesting your platoon join them."

"The rest of my platoon's in the west," said Zvika, "reinforcing Yael and her company at the 300 Metro." He turned to the rest of his men and pointed into the group. "Corporal Eliad, get this patrol back to the metro. Tell Lieutenant Yael to keep the pumping station operating as long as possible. Cinnabar City and the rest of the island are going to need all the power they can get for as long as we can keep the lights on."

"Yes sir," acknowledged Eliad as Zvika moved and slammed the door closed. Another wail split the air just as everyone go to their feet. A colossal boom rumbled the building and a barrage of rubble flooded the streets in front of the thin windows as the building two doors down the road collapsed under the bombardment.

Gesturing in harsh waves for everyone to move, Captain Zvika ordered everyone outside as he threw open the door, shoving aside the plentiful rubble left over from the many collapsed buildings along the street. "They'll need a second to recharge!" Zvika shouted. "Out! Go! Go!"

The troopers hustled out the door and turned left onto the rubble lined road. Eliad stopped by the captain for only a second as the rest of the men gathered in a loose formation. "Captain," said the young corporal, the glint of the pokeballs on the officer's belt catching his attention for only a second. "Good luck dad."

Zvika nodded. "Keep your head down," he said, tone controlled.

"Alright, hustle up!" Corporal Eliad shouted, running into the formation as the messenger joined their ranks. They quickly set off down the street.

His ears still ringing, Zvika waited for several seconds as his squad ducked into the ruins of a half-collapsed cafe to access the alley behind it. The man in the black armor dropped a pokeball and let it split open in a torrent of white light. A massive horse wreathed in orange flame whinnied as it swirled into existence, and Zvika threw one leg over the Pokemon's back. Despite his large frame and even larger set of armor, Zvika still looked almost too small for the Rapidash as he picked up it's reins.

"Got your attention," he muttered and tapped his mount with his heels, galloping north and turning his gaze skyward. He had seen the shadows against the sun change course the instant the Rapidash appeared, and Zvika now watched as the two flying Pokemon angled out of the blinding sphere towards him. Calmly he reached up and grasped the handle of the squat but massive labrys slung across his back, simultaneously pulling one foot from its stirrup and placing the ball of his foot on his saddle's pommel.

Training his eyes on the diving fliers, one a Charizard and the other a Fearow, both bearing riders holding pokeballs in each hand, Zvika felt every muscle in his body tense as the Charizard opened its mouth and belched out a column of fire. The man on the Rapidash roared and leapt up, propelling himself vertically off the saddle and drawing back his huge, doubleheaded axe as the wave of fire swallowed and blinded him. Still bellowing a war cry, Zvika swung with his axe and felt it bite into the Charizard, an instant after the Pokemon pulled up from its low dive.

Grunting as his arms jerked, his body swinging like a weight on a chain, Zvika held onto his axe as his vision cleared and he saw one of the blades embedded all the way to the head in the Charizard's ribcage. As the mounted trainer screamed and the Charizard wheezed a breath of smoke, the flying lizard twisted in midair and crashed to the rubble strewn street. Friction with the road tore Zvika and his axe out of the Pokemon and all three figures tumbled for a solid twenty feet before coming to a stop.

"I surrender! I surrender!" shouted the mounted trainer, one arm hanging useless as he tried to extricate himself from his floundering mount's saddle. The moaning Charizard, with arms not flexible enough for the task, tried to clutch at the gaping wound in its side and hold in its oily blood.

"You bring a war to my home," Zvika growled like a wolf as he stalked towards the struggling Charizard and its trainer. "You ambush me on a holy day." He raised his axe over his head with both hands, and brought it down on the Charizard's throat, severing its neck with a definitive snap and sending the Pokemon's head tumbling away from its instantly stilled body. "You attack civilians and noncombatants... kill women and children," he glared through his visor at the man, "and you have the gall to ask for mercy?"

"Please," whimpered the trainer, putting his good hand up in front of his face for defense. "Have mercy."

With a huff Zvika turned around, his grip going loose on his axe for a split second. With another grunt he whirled around, holding out both arms and the axe and swinging at the trainer. The wicked edge of the labrys both sliced and crushed through the man's forearm and neck, splattering the street with red blood as the decapitated head flew and the truncated corpse slumped in the saddle.

"No," Zvika muttered. He looked up at the sky as his Rapidash trotted to him and halted at his side. The trainer mounted on the Fearow had since turned and fled in the other direction. With a satisfied smirk hidden beneath his helmet, the trainer pulled himself back into his saddle and reared the Rapidash around, turning north. Glancing back, he saw the line of blackened stone where the Charizard had attempted to strafe him, and his smirk grew.

"Thank the goddess for fiberglass armor," he sighed. The man in the heavy black armor barked an order and his mount bolted off down the street.

SC

"So this is Saffron City?" Ash muttered, standing on the side of the road and looking towards the walls only a few hundred yards away.

Sunset had come and gone, but the crimson glow still lingering on the western horizon threw the skyline of the metropolis into stark contrast. Obsidian spires, wrapped in flashing neon and spotted with countless windows stuck up into the sky. From where he paused, Ash could plainly make out even the meanest of the dozen skyscrapers, as gaudily decorated as they were. Even the city wall, an imposing structure itself standing more than forty feet high, sported neon signs and what looked to be large screens flashing advertisements.

It took Ash a moment of scanning the wall to spot the less glamorous buildings constructed outside its circumference. Hidden in the shadow of the huge barrier, the rest of Saffron sprawled out over the plain. Houses, apartment complexes, squat factories, warehouses, water towers, granaries, and even many blocks of slums all lay in the shadows of the skyscrapers. Crisscrossed by dozens of roads, most of them not easily visible from the small hill on which the two Gym Leaders sat atop their mounts, the city reminded Ash of Cerulean and its many water channels.

"It's a lot less impressive than it touts itself to be," said Janine, shaking her head, "but if you're looking for a diseased cesspool of corruption, fraud, and all-around shitty people, look no further. Saffron has all the vice and evil you could ever want."

"Why don't you tell me what you really think," Ash muttered, tightening his grip on Arcanine's reigns only enough to quiet the Pokemon's excited whimpering. "Is it really that bad?"

"The wealthier citizens all live in that walled off section there," Janine pointed to the skyscrapers behind the wall. "There are a few powerful families that control the city. That's where you'll find Silph Company and Sabrina's Gym. The poorer districts on the outside consist mostly of factory workers, common laborers, and petty criminals. That's where you'll find the Pokemon Center and Team Rocket's old company headquarters."

Ash raised an eyebrow, scanning the slums outside the wall. "If we weren't on a schedule I'd suggest checking out the base," he said.

"Wouldn't do any good." Janine sighed. "That was one of the facilities they cleared it out when they tried to move into Fuchsia. We probably wouldn't find anything anyway."

"Hm," Ash toned, turning from the city to the girl on the spider. "So what's it take to get inside the wall?" he asked. "They wouldn't have built it if they were just going to let anyone through."

A smirk tugged at Janine's lip. "Don't worry about a thing. I can have us passed that wall by tomorrow afternoon, no sweat."

"Let's get to the Pokemon Center then," said Ash, tapping Arcanine's sides with his heels. Immediately the canine, tail wagging from side to side, set off at a quick trot, making Janine hurry to keep up. "We'll dismount when we're closer."

"Still worried about your Munchlax, eh?" asked the girl in the hoodie, her spider moving up next to Arcanine.

Without nodding, Ash glanced at the pokeball on his belt. "Oz didn't do anything but sleep when I let him out. Normally he's running around like a maniac trying to eat everything in sight."

Continuing on and only stopping when they reached one of the city's outer streets, Ash and Janine dismounted, returned their mounts to their respective pokeballs, and began walking casually into the city. Most of the outer ring of houses looked to be abandoned and in differing states of disrepair. As they continued inward however, never passing or even seeing anyone out in the streets, neither trainer could miss the many sets of curious eyes looking out at them from darkened windows and open doorways. Ignoring the urge to shiver, Ash reached down to the ground beside him and picked up Pikachu, quickly setting the little Pokemon on his shoulder.

"Good deterrent," said Janine. "The Pokemon Center's just a couple of blocks this way," she went on as the buildings grew more congested and loomed higher. No light shone from most of the windows and those that did cast some illumination rarely glowed brightly. That coupled with the small percentage of working streetlights left the trainers to walk in a gloom not a great deal less oppressive than many of the frontier's wilder stretches of land.

"Reminds me of Viridian Forest, just more concrete," Ash mumbled, casting about when he heard a dull rumbling ahead.

As he and Janine spotted they rounded a corner, both trainers spotted a better lit strip of street and a long line of people stretched out towards a building with a large, open front. A large sign hung out over the front of the building read "Inner City Outreach," under which there sat the small but plainly visible insignia of a stylized TR. Beneath the sign, several men and women in red and white uniforms stood behind a counter, handing out small paper sacks to every individual who walked by, took the sacks, and dispersed into the slum.

A constant cycle of people carrying supplies inside the glassed in lobby of the building kept the counter stocked as the line of people, fed by a constant stream of people appearing from within the slum, remained a roughly constant size. Janine and Ash watched for a minute or two from the street corner as people, most dressed in dirty and worn clothes, came and went.

With a quick grunt, Janine bumped Ash's arm. "Watch what you say," she hoarsely whispered, simultaneously reaching up to keep her face hidden in her hood's shadow.

In an alley across the street from the bread line, two men emerging from the shadows caught Ash's attention. Both were tall and well-built men in white and red uniforms. Team Rocket's ruby insignia sprawled boldly across their chests as they approached Ash and Janine, stopping a few paces away. Ash couldn't miss that each carried a pokeball at his belt.

"Anything we can help you or your friend with?" asked the taller of the two big men, his tone far more polite than the sallow expression stuck on his harsh and meaty face. He paused as the girl in the hoodie, looking at the sidewalk so that her countenance remained completely hidden, stepped a little farther behind Ash. "If you need some groceries, you're more than welcome to stand in line. It's all free to anyone in need, as usual, courtesy of Team Rocket."

"Um, actually," said Ash, "we were just looking for the Pokemon Center."

The second uniformed man, a lean character whose exposed hands bore dark scars, leaned over to his partner and whispered something too quiet for Ash to catch, shielding the conversation with his marred hand. Ash immediately noted the thinner man's eyes locking on Pikachu.

"Down fifth here," the wider man raised a finger and pointed. "Turn right on Cole and it's right there. If you have any other questions," the man paused, "don't hesitate to ask the nearest Team Rocket member. You can find us anywhere, anytime."

"Thanks," said Ash. "I'll remember that." He turned away and began walking with Janine down the street as the two men paced back across the street. They followed the man's directions and quickly spotted the Pokemon Center a block closer to the wall. A quick twitch flitted through Ash's shoulders as he felt Haunter's presence appear at the forefront of his mind. The ghost, silently snickering and floating invisibly behind Ash, quickly alerted him that the two Team Rocket members from before had tailed them.

Again Janine bumped Ash's arm with her elbow. "Those two are following us," she whispered, "and I count no less than eight other teams of of two people wearing Rocket's uniforms between us and the center, all of which are keeping tabs on us. I think they might have recognized you."

Ash swallowed the lump in his throat, but hid any anxiety. Quickly scanning the road ahead he did see a few people in Team Rocket uniforms... not as many as Janine claimed to see, but he spotted at least four.

"Would they start something in the middle of the city," he faked a smile and kept walking.

"This is their city," the girl in the hoodie slipped her hands into her pockets.

SC

Invasion.

The word grabbed Ash's attention completely and he slowly pivoted away from the dark window to his left and glanced over his shoulder. He didn't miss Janine pausing in the middle of her sentence to look passed him at the television mounted on the wall of the Pokemon Center's massive cafeteria. Apparently the word also garnered the undivided attention of the two dozen or so other people sitting around the tables and booths that night, as someone near the font of the room shouted for everyone to shut up and someone else walked forward to turn up the TV's volume.

"...again, this is the first any news studio has on the story, so there's no telling how many have been killed as of yet," said the anchor in the red dress. She shuffled some papers around as the man turning up the volume stepped away from the TV, before clearing her throat while the camera zoomed out to allow for a news box to appear beside her. Closeup pictures showed burning buildings, men in black and olive uniforms running here and there, and rubble piled high in the streets of an obviously industrialized population center.

"So far all we have are images from Concord," said the reporter, "the southernmost city on Cinnabar Island, but reports came in only minutes ago that this invasion is indeed a full scale effort on the parts of Johtan cities Goldenrod, Olivine, and Cianwood at reconquering the entire island. As far as we know, the Johtan offensive began four days ago when a coalition army landed on the eastern shore of Cinnabar in the port city of Salsu. One common element among the many conflicting reports coming in is that the Island Defense Force, Cinnabar's primary armed forces, were caught off guard by the attack, despite the invasion's size and the IDF's status as the single largest and best equipped standing army in the world."

Swallowing the lump in her throat the reporter paused for a moment and put a hand to her ear. "I'm just now getting word," she said, moving the papers on her desk aside, "our correspondent at Indigo Plateau has just told us that the Elite Four released a statement confirming that they will not intervene in the war. For more let's go to Mason Charleston, live at Indigo Plateau. Mason?"

Glancing around the room as the picture switched over to a burly man framed by the edifice of a Pokemon Center, Ash heard hushed conversations, each riddled with uncertainty, popping up all over the room.

"Why aren't the Elite Four going to do anything?" asked one man.

A woman with one hand on a stroller turned to a man sitting beside her. "Why's this happening now?" she asked.

"Why would Johto invade?" asked a teenager, hanging onto his girlfriend a little tighter.

"Well Anna," said the reporter, "no one is quite sure what's happened over the last few hours. I'll admit that I was shocked when the Elite Four released a written statement only thirty minutes ago stating that they knew about the invasion as early as yesterday morning when one of their Rangers returned from the island nation with word. One little-known fact that the Elite Four said heavily influenced their decision not to take action is, despite what everyone here on the mainland has assumed for decades, Cinnabar Island is not actually under the Elite Four's jurisdiction.

"Cinnabar has a very long and very bloody history, but the long and short of it is that when the current government took control of the island a little more than a century ago it was written into their constitution that Cinnabar was to never sacrifice any amount of its sovereignty to any outside power. This lead the people of Cinnabar to reject the offer made sixty years ago by the Elite Four to make the island a protectorate.

"Ever since that point the Johtan cities of Olivine, Cianwood, and Goldenrod, which were each settled by the people the current Cinnabarean government displaced in the first place, routinely launched largely uncoordinated attacks on the island. For the last half a century Cinnabar has suffered countless raids by pirates and mercenaries under the control various Johtan powers. The island nation has been involved in numerous proxy-wars with the smaller settlements on other islands in the Cinnabar Cluster, fighting primarily against insurgents backed by either Goldenrod or Olivine."

The reporter paused as a strong wind blew out of the night and nearly knocked him off balance. "There's never been anything remotely like this though," Mason went on, clearing his throat. "Sources say that an army of no less than seventy-five thousand soldiers, backed by as many as two hundred Pokemon Trainers is currently marching west across Cinnabar towards the city of Yamen and, ultimately, to Cinnabar City. While there's been no official release yet, sources also report that Blaine Katsura, current head of the gym and embassy on the island, was captured early on the third day of the fighting when he and his gym's members sided with the Cinnabareans."

"Mason," said the anchor in the red dress. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm sure a lot of viewers are wondering why this is the first we're hearing about this," her eyes narrowed a little. "Is there any word on why communication wasn't established earlier? Or if there's any threat to the mainland."

"Actually Anna, the Elite Four's written release did mention," responded the male reporter, producing a piece of paper on which he focused for a moment, "their ranger noted a few hours before the invasion began that several listening posts on the northern edge of the island went down, so the Cinnabareans had a very limited capacity to communicate from the beginning. Couple that with the sheer distance between Cinnabar and the mainland and it's a miracle any information at all made it within broadcast ranges. Now however, I'm told that the IDF has established several emergency communication hubs that our affiliates on the island have been able to use to break the story.

"As for a threat to the mainland..." the reporter paused and forced himself to smile for a second. "If the Johtans wanted to invade Kanto then there are certainly easier ways to do it than by moving through Cinnabar. Anna, my sources here are confident for the most part that this is a move against Cinnabar, not Kanto in general. I should mention however that the Elite Four are urging the Gym Leaders of Kanto to think long and hard if they're considering an effort to relieve Cinnabar. Lance himself said, and this should clear up how serious the issue is... Lance commented on it saying that if any more Gym Leaders on this side of Mt. Silver involve themselves it could start a, quote, world war."

Turning away from the television as the report continued, Ash faced Janine. The two trainers' eyes met and both took a deep breath waiting for the other to speak. After an extended staring contest, Janine finally sat back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Nodding off towards the television, she tapped her foot on the floor.

"Well that's quite the development..." muttered the girl in the hoodie. "What do you think?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Ash stared down at the table for a moment. "I-" he began, stopping as a woman in a white dress walked up beside the table.

"Mr. Ketchum?" asked the nurse, going on once Ash acknowledged her. "The doctor sent me to tell you that your Munchlax is going to be just fine. Actually," she half-grinned, "Dr. Corkerin says that of the few Snorlax-family specimens he's encountered, your Munchlax is one of the healthiest and most manageable."

"I've been making a point to keep it tame," Ash responded flatly. "But I am a little concerned... Munchlax has been sleeping a lot lately when usually he's got too much energy to handle."

"Dr. Corkerin also asked me to tell you," the nurse answered hesitantly, "that your Pokemon is actually getting ready to begin its next growth cycle. Over the course of the next week or two it's going to sleep almost all day and only wake up to feed. Assuming you let it out of its pokeball it's going to get very big, very quickly."

Ash looked up at her. "So you're telling me it's getting ready to evolve."

The nurse nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying... Mr. Ketchum, Dr. Corkerin wants you to know that while he would never tell a trainer what to do with his or her Pokemon, it's his concerned opinion that you should take every precaution available to ensure that your Munchlax remains... under control. I'm not sure you're aware, but Snorlax tend to be extremely," she paused as though she was searching for a word.

"I know about their temperament," said Ash. "Tell the doc not to worry. I can take care of it."

Bowing slightly, the nurse took a step back. "Of course," she said. "You can pick up your Munchlax anytime at the front desk."

As the woman left, Ash turned back to Janine and dropped one hand below the table, finding Pikachu dozing lazily on the seat beside him. "Of course I can handle a Snorlax," Ash said, mostly to himself. "That's almost insulting."

"I can understand why she's concerned though," said the girl in purple, fiddling with the edge of her hood as she looked out at Ash from under the shadow. "Snorlax aren't famous for their lovable disposition... still, I can see why you'd like the idea of having one that obeys you."

Ash looked back at the TV, and listened for a moment as the reporter on the screen went over some of the details involving the invasion of Cinnabar. "I wonder if this is all part of the plan?" he mumbled.

Janine cocked her head at him. "What plan?" she asked.

His eyes flinching, though his face remained otherwise calm, Ash continued staring at the screen. "Just a thought," he said. "So," he turned back to her and stood up, "I'm going to go get my Pokemon. See you back in the room?"

"Sure," said the girl. "We need to hammer out what we're doing tomorrow."

Ash nodded, turning and walking towards the entrance to the big cafeteria as Janine stood and went the opposite direction. Pikachu resting contentedly but vigilantly on his shoulder, Ash made his way through the Pokemon Center to the main lobby. The brightly lit room sported the latest styles of Saffron City, almost glittering with fresh gold paint and white accents and furniture. The young trainer stopped in front of the main desk and rapped his knuckles on the surface to get the attention of the sleepy attendant on the other side.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," the attendant, an older boy in wrinkled suit, sputtered awake. He glanced around and spotted Ash immediately. "What can I do for you, sir?" he asked.

"Ash Ketchum," answered the young trainer, "here to pick up a Munchlax." He reached inside his coat, produced a document stamped with a large seal, and set it on the desk.

The attendant glanced over the paper and jumped before looking up at Ash, eyes growing wide as the corners of his mouth fell. "You're the real Ash Ketchum, Gym Leader from Vermilion," he said. "I saw the name and the league discount on your papers, but I wasn't sure it was really you. I'll have your Pokemon out to you in just a second sir." The boy behind the desk stood up and almost ran off to one of the side rooms, returning less than a minute later with a pokeball marked with a tag held in a shaking hand.

"Thanks," said Ash, accepting the pokeball, checking the tag, and clipping the little orb to his belt. "I paid up front, you know," he said when the attendant continued staring at him.

"Oh, I know sir," answered the boy behind the desk. "I didn't mean to stare," he quickly looked away, voice tight.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked, shifting slightly away.

"Oh, yes sir," said the attendant. "It's just that Ash Ketchum turning up here... especially after what the news has been saying for the last few days about Celadon... I don't think anyone was expecting you here."

Ash eyed the attendant carefully. "I've been on the news?" he asked. "What have they been saying?"

"Um," the boy behind the desk pushed himself back a little. "You haven't heard?"

Ash shook his head.

"Well, nothing too bad," the attendant said quickly. "Most of it was about Erika actually. You were just kind of there too but the people on TV were talking a lot about how you helped Erika usurp Celadon." The attendant twitched as Ash's face twisted. "Well they said 'usurp'" he amended hastily. "That wasn't what I really thought happened, but a lot of people say that you killed a lot of... Um, I'm really not sure actually," by now he was all but trembling in his chair. "I think I need to file some paperwork before my shift it over."

Ash nodded as the attendant pushed himself up from the desk and backed away. "Sure, sure," he sighed. "Thanks," the trainer turned away, spotting a few people glancing at him from around the room. Ash grimaced and reached up, pulling the bill of his cap down a little lower and looking down as he walked across the lobby towards the stairs. Finding his way to the fifth floor easily enough and walking straight to his room, Ash found Janine sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand on her knee and the other inside her hoodie's pocket as she stared, ostensibly absentmindedly, at the TV across from the bed.

"Come take a look at this," said the girl, glancing as Ash closed the door behind him.

"What's up?" asked the trainer, crossing the room, almost bumping his shin on the low nightstand due to the darkness, broken only by the light of the television.

Janine nodded to the news report and muted the volume. "Maybe they'll show it again," she said, watching screen, "but there's supposed to be one hell of a fight going down in Concord on Cinnabar. The anchor said the IDF and the Johtan Coalition are probably fighting over the processing and pumping plant that Cinnabar uses to produce natural gas."

"No surprise there," said Ash. "Ever since Pallet went up in smoke, Cinnabar hasn't had anywhere to send the gas so I'd imagine they've been stockpiling."

"Yeah, but logistics aren't what worry me- there," she pointed to the TV just as a news box reappeared as the anchor's lips silently moved. "Look at that monster."

Ash stared for a moment and his jaw went slack. "No way," he muttered. "Turn it up."

"... sure exactly why or when," the anchor's voice blurted, "but this live video just coming in from Concord seems to confirm the worst fears of many. It would definitely seem that Professor Elm, the man responsible for the capture of the Southern Sea's legendary Red Gyarados, has joined the battle on the side of the Johtan forces."

Tuning out the anchor and simply watching from the perspective of a cameraman atop a five story building, Ash stared at the enormous red figure rampaging through burning residential district of the city of Concord. The colossal Pokemon, a full two blocks away from the observing news crew, towered above the one and two story buildings around it, thrashing about and demolishing everything around it.

The camera zoomed in on a small figure, half a block behind the monster and surrounded by a dozen armored men and just as many large Pokemon. Carrying a small antenna, which he pointed at the Red Gyarados with one hand and a contraption that struck Ash as eerily similar to the Pokedex in appearance in the other, the man in the white lab coat shouted orders into the device.

"Oh shit," hissed the cameraman as the image rapidly shifted back to the Gyarados, which now stared directly at the news crew atop the building. The monster roared and reared back, it's jaws opening horrifyingly wide as a great red and purple light shone out of its mouth. As the Gyarados whipped its head towards the apartment building, a blinding beam of light shot from between its teeth and slammed into the building, violently shaking the camera and apparently knocking down it's crew.

Ash heard several men scream as debris flew in all directions and the camera tumbled down. For a split second the image on the screen exploded into complete chaos, before disappearing into buzzing static as a "Signal Lost" prompt appeared in the corner of the screen. Almost immediately thereafter, the image returned to the shocked anchor in the red dress, holding a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god," she gasped, all illusions of composure gone. "Um, ladies and gentlemen, I don't know exactly what happened but I think-" she went silent as Janine muted the volume.

For a long few seconds, the two trainers remained quiet. Gradually Ash's mouth closed and his jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Janine got up from the bed and paced to the window, drawing the blinds a little tighter before moving a chair away from the glass and sitting back down.

"Thought you might find that interesting," said the girl in the hoodie. "Given what happened to Pallet."

Ash took a long breath, and sat down on the bed, looking at the floor between his feet. "That doesn't matter as much as Silph Company, right now at least," he said. "For the moment, let's just figure out what we're doing tomorrow and see where that takes us. Now... you mentioned a friend you had in Silph?"

"Right," said the girl. "Let me go drop off a letter."

"You might want to make it quick," said the boy in the cap. "If the reception I got in the lobby is any indicator, we might have already outstayed our welcome."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – From Hell's Heart

The next day arrived with a clap of thunder that rattled the Pokemon Center's windows and shook Ash from the clutches of a nightmare. The trainer sat up from his bedroll on the thickly carpeted floor and rubbed his eyes. In his peripheral he spotted Janine, sitting cross-legged on the bed and pulling a small tube away from her bare forearm. The girl balled her empty hand into a fist, took a deep breath, and pulled down her sleeve.

"One hell of a storm rolled in early this morning," said the girl on the bed. "We've gotten almost an inch of rainfall already it doesn't look like it's going to break anytime soon..." Janine stood up and grinned, the expression only visible in the light of the silent television. "That's good for us."

Pulling his hand away from his face, Ash glanced at the curtained windows on the opposite wall, then at the clock sitting on the nightstand. After another quick look between the two, Ash sat up a little more and nodded to the inky window.

"Is it really noon?" he asked.

"You were tired, so I let you sleep," Janine answered. She paused as Ash shivered once and put his hand back on his face. "Bad dreams again?"

"No," Ash blurted, "I always wake up shaking and sweating-" he stopped himself when he heard the venom in his words. "Sorry," he muttered, standing up as Janine leaned back a little. "I didn't mean to come across like that."

Without turning away from him, Janine shrugged and dropped her hands into her hoodie's pocket. "Things have been really stressful lately," she said, tone unchanged from before. "If you want to talk about it-"

"I really don't," Ash interrupted, grabbing his pack, turning around and walking for the bathroom. He stopped in the door and started to say something, but the words died in his mouth. Closing the door behind him, the young Gym Leader didn't see the girl in the other room pull down her hood and watch the closed door for more than a minute. Janine sighed when she heard the shower's initial sputtering hiss a few moment's later.

"Poor guy," she said under her breath, reaching under the bed and pulling out her small backpack. Sitting on the table opposite the bed, Pikachu looked up from cleaning himself and glanced between Janine and the closed door.

As the hot water stung his skin and filled the small bathroom with steam, Ash stood under the shower head and slumped against the wall, fists balled at his sides. He screwed his eyes closed and pressed one trembling fist to his forehead. Sucking in a breath and opening his eyes again, Ash stared down at the drain in the floor, watching the water swirl down passed the chromed trap.

"Why wasn't it me?" he muttered, his face and chest both drawing tight. "It should have been me."

Ash just stood there for several minutes before taking a deep breath and pushing himself away from the wall. After quickly cleaning himself up, Ash shut off the water and pulled his clean set of clothes from his backpack. Tightening his belt he glanced at the mirror, debating whether or not he wanted to bother with a shave. After a shrug and grunt, Ash opened the door and walked back into the bedroom, immediately jerking back and raising his hands to catch the object flying at his face.

"Put this on," said Janine as Ash fumbled to catch the harness she'd tossed. "Wear it under your coat and clip your pokeballs to it. That way you'll look a little less conspicuous."

Ash managed to recover his composure and, after a good deal of twisting the harness and turning it around, managed to figure out how to put it on. While the girl in the hoodie finished wrapping her arms in leather bands that bristled with Velcro loops and bands of all different sizes, Ash moved his pokeballs from his belt to the little magnetic clips hanging just under his armpits.

"So this Mewtwo guy you mentioned last night," said Janine, fastening a knife to one forearm, a long loop of fine metal wire to her other, and pulling her sleeves down over both, "you sure we can trust him?"

"Probably," Ash shrugged. "If he wasn't on our side then he wouldn't have saved me back in Lavender. I wouldn't have stood a chance without his help." The trainer immediately felt a pang in the back of his head as Haunter expressed offense. He quickly reminded the specter that, while it had helped a great deal, Mewtwo's aid had been the deciding factor in the endeavor's success. Haunter couldn't argue and floated invisibly up next to Ash, asking when "playtime" was to start.

"Hm," the girl toned. "Not that I really mind working for a disembodied voice my partner hears in his head, but he could have mentioned what he wants with Sabrina... Still, thanks for letting me know about him at least."

"No problem," Ash answered. "Speaking of, what do you know about Sabrina?"

"Much as I hate to admit, next to nothing." Janine sighed. "Getting a spy close to anyone in Saffron who actually matters isn't easy. Um," she thought for a second. "I can tell you Sabrina's a woman... probably. I know she disappeared just under a year ago, right after she personally curb-stomped the fighters in the Saffron Civil War, but that's about it. Funny, I never would have figured her to be taken prisoner by anyone, especially not Team Rocket given the chummy relationship they've had for years."

"Team Rocket's never been predictable, and it's only gotten worse recently," said Ash, throwing on a heavy brown jacket and holding out one arm. Pikachu leapt up onto his elbow and settled in on Ash's shoulder. "It might be wishful thinking but I'll hope that means they're feeling the pressure."

"Right," said Janine, walking to the window and parting the curtain just enough to look out. As Ash stepped up beside her, she nodded to one of the many neon-ringed spires poking up over the wall almost a mile away. "So..." she lowered her voice a little, "you ready to get your feet wet?"

Ash shut off the TV and the pair of trainers walked from their room to the Pokemon Center's main lobby. Ash had made a point to keep his face down and not look at any of the dozen or so people they passed on their way out. As the Center's big doors automatically opened before them, Ash felt the saturated air strike him like a slap to the face. The blustering wind only enhanced the effect, and the trainer had to reach up to steady a struggling Pikachu.

"Here you go," Ash muttered, tucking the Pokemon inside his jacket and zipping it up enough to conceal the rodent. He looked with a grimace into the street from under the Pokemon Center's concrete awning as Janine stepped out into the torrential downpour. "This sucks..." he muttered, walking through the wall of water ringing him in and instantly bunching up his shoulders in a vain attempt to stave off the rain.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," said Janine, a wide grin visible under her hood. "It's a beautiful day." She reached out and grabbed Ash's hand, pulling him along as the trainer in the cap tucked his head and fell in stride beside her. The pair quickly made their way down the sidewalk, avoiding the many puddles and miniature waterfalls that cascaded down from the tops of buildings. More than once however, Janine, still leading Ash by the hand through the storm, veered under one of the waterfalls and soaked both trainers all the way through their clothes.

"I'm glad you're having a good time," Ash grumbled as the pair came to a stop on a street corner a block from Saffron's imposing wall.

"I love the rain," Janine released Ash's hand and reached up, snatching his cap from his head. "It always makes things seem so clean, even here."

"Well I'm soaked to the bone," said Ash, reaching for his cap but closing his hand around empty air as Janine waved it away from his hand. "Would you give that back?" he growled.

"Oh, c'mon, lighten up," Janine laughed as Ash again went for his hat and she kept it away from him.

Across the intersection from a humming streetlight, Ash tried for a minute to grab his cap from Janine, but each time he went for it she would dart a step or two away from him and flaunt the cap. The girl in the hood spun around Ash as he lunged for her, practically dancing out of his way whenever he tried to grab his hat until both trainers had moved across the road, passed the streetlight, and wound up almost a block from where they'd started. Finally Janine stopped and stood still a few paces behind him, having twirled her way into a dead end alley. She quickly glanced away, seeing no route out of the alley that didn't involve jumping to a second story window.

"Gotcha," Ash smirked, turning around and facing her. "Mine now," he charged forward, lunging for Janine, but again tackling only empty space.

"Too slow," Janine teased, leaping away from him and planting her back against brick wall at the end of the shallow alley.

"Now you've got nowhere to run," Ash laughed, positioning himself for another attack.

After she wiped a lock of hair out of her face, Janine's expression flew from a teasing grin to a focused stare as her eyes darted from Ash to the passage he guarded, and back again. Quick as an arrow she bolted forward, leaning to her right, spotting Ash compensating for the feint, and immediately throwing herself to the left. The girl jumped sideways, planted her foot on the wall beside Ash, and kicked off to fling herself passed him. The triumphant smirk on her lips vanished into awed surprise as Ash's arm wrapped around her waist and he caught her in the middle of her jump.

Grunting as he absorbed the shock of the catch Ash spun on his heel, locking Janine in a vice grip of a hold and pulling her back to the ground. An instant later Ash went for the cap with his free hand, but again Janine managed to twist the article out of his reach, holding it above her head. When Ash released her to reach for the hat with both hands, Janine spun away again, still managing to corner herself in the alley.

"Alright," Ash straightened up, laughing and out of breath. "Hand it over." He extended his hand.

"Finally," Janine sighed. "It's only taken me three days."

Confusion twitched across Ash's face as he stumbled in place, foot landing with a heavy splash in a puddle. "What?" he asked. "What's taken you-"

The girl walked forward so boldly and stopped so close to him that Ash could only watch as she reached up and put the cap back on his head, pulling it down and centering the bill over his forehead. "You haven't so much as cracked a grin since we left Celadon," said Janine, pulling down her hood and looking up at him with a big smile despite the rain falling on her face. "But now I've finally gotten your spirits up again." She closed her eyes and cocked her head off to one side.

It might have been the the cool rain dripping down the back of his neck, or the warm hands resting on his shoulders, but Ash suddenly realized just how close he and Janine were standing. He stammered for a second, well aware that Janine had laced her fingers behind his neck, and tried to think of something to say.

"Well," Ash fumbled. "I'm glad- thanks for trying to cheer me up."

"Sure thing," said Janine, still looking up at him. She started to say something, but stopped and glanced away.

As Ash caught the blush seeping into her cheeks and ears, he reached up and took hold of Janine's wrists. He pulled her hands down, the slight touch of her fingers on his neck eliciting a single shiver. "This-" he paused for a breath, "this isn't really... maybe now isn't a great time... for that kind of thing."

"You sure?" asked the girl in the hoodie, looking up at him with no small amount of effort. "We're about to walk into what's probably a deathtrap, blind, with nothing but each other. It seems like a decent time to me."

Ash grinned, despite the knot twisting itself into his stomach, trying to hear his own thoughts over the driving rain and the thumping in his chest. "Listen, I know there's..." he trailed off, the thoughts sticking in his head like syrup.

"I know that things have been really hard lately," Janine didn't resist as he put her hands together and held them between her and him, "but I've been thinking about things since you helped me back in Fuchsia. I've been holding back a lot my entire life because I didn't want to get close to anyone just to... you know. But that kind of thinking isn't working anymore. If you're willing to give it a shot..." she stopped herself.

Ash felt his chest grow painfully tight as his face began to turn red. "It's..." he pressed his lips together. "It's really not that you're... I mean I'm... I just really need some time."

"That's not something I have a lot," Janine stopped when she saw the fragility in Ash's countenance. The girl took a deep breath, and nodded. "Sure," she said, her tone growing more cheery. "I didn't mean to... For now we should probably focus on getting under that wall, eh?"

Ash nodded, the crimson visibly draining from his face, though he did reach up and wipe a sleeve across his eyes. The gesture however only succeeded in getting his face even wetter. "Wait," he stopped. "Did you say we were going under?"

Without answering, Janine gestured for Ash to follow and lead him a block farther west to another alley roughly a quarter of a mile from the wall. No sooner had he rounded the corner and stepped between the two apparently abandoned buildings, than was Ash instantly stepping back and covering his nose with his hand.

"Oh god," he mumbled as Janine stepped into the alley and began looking amongst the numerous dumpsters lined up against all three of its walls. "Did they build the city around the dump or something?"

"This section of town doesn't have any regular waste management services," said the girl in the hood, checking between dumpsters as Ash stood in the alley's entrance. "People just throw their garbage wherever it can fit until someone with enough money decides to pay for a cleanup... Ah, here we go." She motioned Ash over.

Wiping stench induced tears from his eyes, but still spotting the black mark painted on the side of one bin, Ash began helping Janine push it to one side. After several minutes of tugging and pulling, the pair managed to slide the heavy dumpster aside just enough to reveal a rusty plate covering a storm drain set by the base of one building. After another minute or two of effort, the two trainers pried the solid metal slab loose from its spot over the drain. Almost immediately the sound of gurgling and splashing water rose from the drain.

"If I had know it was going to be a sewer..." Ash muttered. "I'd have insisted on flying over."

"Right," Janine glanced up at him. "Because that wouldn't tip off Team Rocket or the Psychics at all."

"They already know we're here."

"We don't need to broadcast it."

"Still," said Ash. "It's a sewer. How are we going to fit?"

"I've managed it," said the girl. "When they were building Saffron, they just constructed it over one of Lavender's old fort cities. They didn't bother to tear up the old sewers which were, lucky for us, quite a bit wider than the modern ones. The engineers just incorporated them into some other systems." Janine leaned down and shimmied through the drain, disappearing to the sound of a splash.

Ash groaned dropped to one knee, trying his best to ignore the stink rising out of the drain. He slid one leg down the narrow drain, then both legs, and dropped into the dark. He landed hard with a splash in an inky black chamber, completely unable to judge the nature of his surroundings. He felt the water rise up to his knees and he couldn't ignore the small waterfall raining down on him from above. Glancing up, he thought he could make out the faint outline of the drain through which he'd climbed.

"Hey," Janine's voice whispered in the dark as Ash felt a hand on his elbow. "That sounded like a rough drop. You alright?"

His skin going cold as he began to feel as though the darkness was closing in on him, Ash fumbled for his jacket's zipper and pulled it down. Almost immediately Pikachu popped his head out of Ash's coat, spitting and shaking.

"Light this up for us, please," Ash glanced down at where he felt Pikachu to be.

The little rodent acknowledged the request with a quick chitter and immediately began to glow like a light bulb. Ash reached down and took the Pokemon out of his coat, lighting the narrow, flooded chamber and filling it with long and twisted shadows as he put Pikachu on his shoulder. Ash cast about for a moment, spotting the rails in the wall of the chamber leading up to the drain. Two waist high tunnels leading off from the cell stood on either wall adjacent to the rusty ladder.

"I'm alright," said Ash, turning to Janine. "I'm still not liking this though."

"I hope you're not claustrophobic," the girl teased, turning and walking to one of the small tunnels.

As Janine dropped to her knees and crawled into the tunnel, which was itself so flooded that the girls head barely cleared the murky water, Ash knelt and surveyed the scene. After a quick shake of his head he backed away from the tunnel. "This is wider than the modern sewers?" he asked.

"You wouldn't fit in the newer ones," Janine called over her shoulder, unable to turn around in the tight quarters. "C'mon. It's not too far till we get under the wall. That's when things might get interesting."

Mouthing some silent curse, Ash knelt back down, turned his shoulders sideways, and maneuvered himself into the tunnel. Even on his hands and knees, Ash had to duck his head to avoid scraping it on the ceiling, and subsequently turn his face to keep his nose above the water. Pikachu fared little better as Ash began following Janine down the sewer. The glowing rodent found itself caught between the slimy brick wall and Ash's shoulder as his trainer crawled through the water. Ash's only consolation was that as he progressed, the stink of the sewer grew fainter and fainter, until the water flowing passed him smelled more of mud and rainwater than waste.

"Either I'm acclimating," Ash groaned to Pikachu, "or nobody uses these drains for sewage."

The little yellow rodent turned to Ash with a venomous glare. The trainer could almost feel Pikachu's ire as the Pokemon stared at him from under a layer of grime on his usually well cleaned forehead. Ash apologized and maneuvered one hand up to wipe away some of the muck. Pikachu didn't protest, though Ash did pause as he heard Haunter's silent giggling in the back of his mind. Feeling around for the ghost, Ash got the impression his invisible companion had floated up to street level to avoid the sewer.

_Oh can it,_ Ash thought to the specter.

"And we're here," Janine's voice sounded up ahead.

Turning forward again, Ash spotted a dark break in the narrow tunnel ahead and hurried for it. Coming out into another comparatively open storm drain, Ash found his partner standing in the knee deep rainwater, one hand resting on an old iron ladder fastened to the grimy brick wall. Janine looked up at the ceiling as Ash arrived with his glowing Pokemon and her face soured.

"Huh," she sighed. "Go figure..."

Following her gaze, Ash immediately spotted the metal grate in the ceiling and the corner of the dumpster setting on it. The trainer stood silent for a second, looking between the rusty ladder on the wall, a structure he guessed might not even support his weight, and the grate.

"Well," he muttered. "Hold on, I think I might have this." Ash reached into his coat and grabbed a pokeball. Snapping it open and flooding the chamber with dazzling white light, Ash stepped back as Charizard materialized out of the light and splashed down in the water on his hind legs. The massive Pokemon hissed and jumped, clearing the water and slamming its head against the ceiling as it flailed to get out of the chamber. Raking it's claws along the wall, the Pokemon kicked at Ash who ducked to one side as Charizard again came splashing down into the murky water with a hiss.

"Easy," Ash barked, grabbing the pommel of Charizard's saddle and swinging himself onto the Pokemon's back. As Janine backed away, Ash reached forward and took hold of one of the spikes on the side of Charizard's skull. With a jerk, he pulled the dragon's head around to one side and looked him in the eye. "Shut up and cool it," he ordered, voice firm. The Pokemon and its trainer went silent and stared at each other for a second, before Charizard finally settled down with a grunt and dropped to all fours in the water. The dragon folded its wings as Ash released his grip on Charizards skull. "Better," said Ash. "Now, care to help out?" The trainer nodded to the grate overhead.

Craning its neck to look up, Charizard slowly lifted its forelegs out of the water with a hissing growl and rested one on the brick wall. With its other clawed hand, the dragon reached up and slipped its three scaly fingers through the grate. Without so much as a grunt of effort, Charizard pushed and both the grate and dumpster popped up, the sound of creaking and cracking metal ringing in the storm drain. Shifting for balance, Charizard easily slid the grate and the dumpster away and dropped back to all fours.

Hopping down from his Pokemon's saddle, Ash stepped forward and put one hand on the side of Charizard's head, rubbing its armored hide. "Thank you," said the trainer in a tone more respectful than amicable.

As a low growl escaped its throat, Charizard opened its mouth only a little, revealing wickedly sharp fangs and allowing bubbling saliva to drip down into the water where it hissed and steamed. It's tail swept to one side and slapped against the wall, the flame at the tip of the appendage flickering from red to white and back. A moment later, Ash returned to Pokemon to its pokeball and turned back to Janine, who had ducked back inside the drainage tunnel.

"I have no idea how you manage to command that thing," said the girl in the hoodie, looking at the deep gashes Charizard had carved into the wall, "but I'm glad it's on our side."

Ash grinned and gestured to the ladder. "Ladies first?" he said.

"Just a sec," Janine stopped him. "Before we go topside make sure that you're ready to move quickly. There's almost no electronic surveillance in the outer city and Team Rocket still recognized you. Now that they know you're in Saffron they'll be watching and the inner city does have lots of security. There's no way to make it to Silph without winding up on camera at least once, but if we move fast we should be able to get in before that matters."

Ash nodded. "And once we get there?" he asked.

"I've got my contact on standby," said Janine. "She'll be waiting for us."

Climbing up the ladder and out into the downpour, the pair of trainers and Pikachu emerged from the drain set in the base of one of the many skyscrapers within the inner ring of Saffron City. Immediately Ash noted the difference between the scenes on either side of the wall and, if he hadn't known better, he might have guessed that he'd crawled into a completely different city. Here, despite there being no people out in the storm to make use of them, streetlights and enormous neon signs kept the wide streets well lit. The inward facing side of the wall sported a coat of white paint and numerous pornographic murals that seized Ash's attention for a moment.

Janine glanced between a staring Ash and the murals and smirked. "That's Saffron's ruling elite for you," she said, patting Ash's arm to get his attention. "Everything they do is about sex, money, violence, or some combination of those three."

"How tacky can you get?" Ash wondered, turning away from the murals. "Let's go."

Nodding to the west, Janine turned and set off at a brisk run with Ash in tow. The storm, Ash thought, had grown even more intense since they crawled into the sewer, and the driving rain did little to put his mind at ease. As the trainer ran directly behind his guide, Ash tried to take in his surroundings, but the sheets of rain and the sheer number of windows in the towering highrises baffled his natural alertness. When he tried to get a glance at the sky, the way in which all of the surrounding buildings stuck into the clouds made him dizy and he had to turn his gaze back towards the ground.

Both trainers skidded to a halt on the corner of an intersection dominated by an enormous skyscraper. The structure, easily the tallest building in the city, sat on a foundation that covered its entire city block. The massive building, much to Ash's surprise, bore almost no ornate neon signs or gaudy decoration. The only part of the sterile looking structure, in fact, that looked to have been designed with beauty in mind was the main entrance, a massive double door made of aged wood lined in green patina.

"C'mon," said Janine, leading Ash to a recess set in the side of the enormous skyscraper. The pair of trainers disappeared into a the little alcove, where both stopped and glanced around. "See there," the girl pointed to a fire escape protruding from the wall of the third story.

Ash nodded. "I didn't bring a grappling hook..." he muttered, scanning the surrounding windows and noticing that most were shuttered or at least curtained from the inside.

"Don't need one," said Janine, bolting forward and running at the wall. Planting her foot on a first-story windowsill, the girl shoved herself upwards and grabbed hold of the next windowsill with one hand. Taking hold of the little ledge with both hands and hanging there, Janine focused for a second, placed the flat of one foot against the wall, and heaved herself upwards again. Her feet made contact with the stone ledge and she braced her hands on the underside of the window's recess.

"That's impressive," Ash said, crossing his arms and watching as Janine swung herself over to another windowsill twelve feet directly under the fire escape.

Looking up and getting her bearings, the girl in the hood quickly steadied herself and braced her feet within the window's deep inset in the wall. Taking baby steps she shuffled up the recess until her hands could no longer find any support in the inset and her fingers groped for holds along the lines between the building's stone blocks. Ash held his breath as he watched Janine's form go rigid for a second as she bent her knees only a little and exploded upwards. Her feet cleared the top of the window and immediately she kicked at the wall and jumped off the vertical surface, gaining only just enough altitude for her fingers to slip between the metal bars of the fire escape.

Ash and Pikachu both watched with relieved expressions as Janine climbed around the side of the bars and pulled herself into the escape. The girl kicked a lever and a second later, a long ladder fell with grinding clangs down to ground level. Ash reached up to his shoulder and patted Pikachu's drenched head before walking up to the ladder and climbing up to the third floor. When he got there, Janine was leaning against the wall.

"Pretty good, huh," she grinned, failing to adequately hide being out of breath.

"I don't think a Treecko could have done any better," he answered, glancing around. "Where from here?"

Janine dropped to one knee and ran her fingers along the edge of one of the windows. Pushing but failing to get it open, she leaned back. "Locked," she muttered, "with no way to pick it from the outside."

Looking over his shoulder, Ash put one hand on the wall. "Do you think they have some kind of security system?" he asked.

"I'm not seeing any sensors," Janine answered, looking around the edge of the window. "And all of the high security rooms are in the basements-" she stopped mid-sentence and twitched away as Ash's boot smashed through the window.

As a wide eyed Pikachu and a very surprised Janine looked up at Ash, the young trainer pulled his boot out of the window and scraped its sole along the metal grate to clean it of any fragments. "I've had about enough of this rain," Ash said, kneeling and using the side of his gloved hand to knock the spikes of glass inwards.

"So much for being sneaky," said Janine, following his lead and clearing away the glass.

"I'm not hearing any alarms," Ash responded, pushing aside the curtains and stepping through. "Seems safe to me."

Cautiously crawling through the window, Janine stepped up beside Ash in what both trainers guessed to be a small receptionist's room. On their left an open door lead into another small room, this one without any exits, and on their right stood a closed door. Only a lamp on the receptionist's desk provided any light, its subtle glow flickering off the brass name plate sitting beside the little lamp. A flash of lightning filled the room for a split second with a dazzling glare just before a peal of thunder shook the building.

"This is the room," said Janine, checking the name plate on the desk. "Third floor, north alcove, Mr Rose's office. Where's Vicki?"

Still glancing around the dark room, Ash listened to his surroundings and reached up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. "Man it's quiet. I don't hear any people," he muttered, his heartbeat ringing in his ears.

"That's because there aren't any around," a voice called from just inside the other room. "Obviously."

Hands going to their belts, Ash and Janine instantly turned on the door. They glanced warily

at each other, but Janine motioned for Ash not to move. The young trainer turned to put his back to the wall as he searched for the source of the voice, both his and Pikachu's eyes darting from one corner to the next.

"Margaret?" Janine called, barely raising her voice above a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

From the adjacent office, seeming to form out of the gloom itself as it passed over the threshold a tall figure with a wispy frame stepped through the door and stopped, green eyes visible and plainly sizing up the two newcomers from underneath a dusky hood. The figure grinned and reached up to pull down her hood, a smile crossing her strikingly narrow face.

"What are you doing here?" Janine repeated, sidestepping to put a little distance between herself and Ash as she turned to better face the other woman in the indistinct hoodie. "Where's Vicki?"

"With all respect ma'am," said Margaret, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm here because Vicki called me in early this morning. Security tightened up a lot last night and Vicki decided it would be best to work security from two angles," she paused and looked at Ash. "I guess your just being here, Mr. Ketchum, hit a nerve."

Ash didn't answer, but glanced over at Janine. "Your operation," he said. "You're call."

"You have to know how this looks," Janine said, tone completely blank as she stared at the woman opposite the desk.

Margaret shrugged and pulled a small radio off her belt, prompting a slight, almost imperceptible tensing in Janine's fingers. "I know, a friend you haven't seen in months shows up with no warning to help on an operation. It sounds like the beginning to any of a thousand bad spy novels where the friend's actually a traitor." Margaret stopped and held out the radio. "But this isn't a spy novel," she said. "Vicki is sitting in the security office, keeping this whole building blind to you. Why else wouldn't every alarm in the complex sound when Mr. Ketchum kicked in that window?"

Flinching, an awkward grin flitted across Ash's face. He couldn't miss the tiny sigh that escaped Janine's mouth. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," said Ash.

"Subtle as a boot to the face," said Margaret. "Still," she gave the outstretched radio a little shake, "if you don't believe me just give Vicki a call."

Still eying the other girl, Janine kept her hands at her side. "Push the 'talk' button."

Margaret did so and the radio buzzed quietly.

"Challenge: foxtrot, November, golf," Janine said, raising her voice only enough for the radio to register the word.

A second passed as Margaret let up on the button. The instant she did, the device buzzed again. "Response:" a female voice answered over the radio, "sierra, sierra, delta, delta. How ya doing girl?"

Reaching over and grabbing the radio, Janine twisted the knob and held the device up to her ear. "No, I didn't," she said after a quick pause, responding to a voice too quiet for Ash or Margaret to hear. "That's standard procedure for a good reason and it's exactly why I'm in charge." Se went quiet again and listened to the humming voice for a second. "Understood. Out." The girl in the soaked purple hood offered the radio back to Margaret.

"Satisfied?" asked the other agent, accepting the device and clipping it to her belt.

Janine nodded. "For now."

"So," Ash cleared his throat. "How do we get to the Telesthetic Lab?"

"Lose the jacket and the hat," said Margaret, stepping back into the adjacent office and producing a briefcase. "You two need to look a lot more official."

As Ash set Pikachu down and shirked out of his soaked coat, he noticed Janine reaching up and pulling her hoodie over her head. It occurred to him that he'd never seen her without it and he couldn't contain a curious glance in her direction. Despite making every effort to be subtle and quick as he glanced at her shockingly thin yet muscular frame, Ash couldn't miss the glance signaling Janine's having caught him. Much to his relief however, Janine didn't say anything, instead just straightening out the shoulder strap of her black tank top and turning her back to him.

"Now, Miss Williams and Mr. Taylor," said Margaret, pulling two lab coats from the briefcase and tossing them to the trainers, then producing one for herself. "Put those on. Hopefully we won't meet anyone important on the way down, but if we do and if for some unforeseeable reason you wind up having to answer questions, the pair of you are from the Viridian home-office, here with one Dr. Zelle," she gestured to herself. "That's me, by the way. You're here to ensure 'quality-control' given issues had with some of Team Rocket's passed experiments... just let me do all the talking."

"You sure this is going to work?" asked Ash, a wary expression settling on his face as Margaret handed him a pair of glasses and some indecipherable chart attached to a clipboard. "I thought there would be more to sneaking into a place like this."

Margaret laughed. "Says the guy who kicked in a window. No, you'd be surprised just how easy it can be to sneak into high security locations. If you look like you belong, then most people will think you do and won't ask any questions."

"I hope so," Ash muttered, adjusting the fake glasses as Margaret handed Janine identical props. "I really don't want to get caught sneaking into one of Team Rocket's bases." Cautiously, he reached out with his mind and felt around for Haunter. Immediately he felt the ghost's presence and instructed it to remain hidden unless he specifically called for him. Haunter begrudgingly agreed.

"Sneaking in is easy," said Janine, grinning at Ash and tying her hair back. "It's sneaking out though, now that can get interesting." She stopped and glanced at Pikachu who had hopped up onto the desk to watch them. "Um," Janine motioned towards the rodent.

Ash followed her motion. "Ah," he toned, stepping up beside Pikachu and pulling a pokeball from underneath his lab coat. Immediately Pikachu recoiled from the device and glared up at Ash, who reached down to pet him. "Sorry," he muttered to the glowering Pokemon. "Don't look at me like that. I really am. I promise this will be the last time I make you wait in a pokeball, OK?"

Pikachu shook his head, but let out a little breath and relaxed. Ash took that as an acquiescence and popped the pokeball open, storing Pikachu away in a swirl of white light.

Following Margaret, Ash and Janine walked from the small office into the hallway beyond. Each step producing an echo that made Ash cringe, the three infiltrators followed the aesthetically sterile passage south, passing by numerous closed wooden doors on one side and shuttered windows on the other. Glancing over his shoulder and down the hall as his companions stopped in front of an elevator door, Ash scanned the scene for any signs they were being followed. Spotting not even a single person in the eerily unoccupied hall, Ash looked at the only sign of security he'd seen thus far, a lone camera, its power cord unplugged from the wall, positioned over the elevator door.

"In we go," said Margaret calmly, stepping inside the elevator as it dinged and the metal doors slid open.

"Never seen one of those before," said Ash as the doors slid shut and he glanced at the elevator's touchscreen interface.

Margaret reached inside her coat, produced a red card, and swiped it through the reader beneath the screen. "Wouldn't really expect a country boy like you to have seen anything like this," said the agent with a smirk, tapping a few numbers on the screen. The interface flashed a warning, blotting out the holographic keys for a second before turning red. "So you better hang on tight," she went on, "because you're not in Pallet anymore."

Janine tapped Ash's arm before he could say anything, drawing his attention and shaking her head. Ash watched the interface as the elevator began to descend. Smaller and smaller numbers blinked across the display as the elevator's motor whirred, slowed, then hissed to a stop. The display read "B-4".

Buzzing and making everyone in the elevator jump, the radio on Margaret's belt vibrated. "Hey guys," Vicki's voice came on the line just as the elevator door dinged and opened. On the other side stood four tall men, each wearing a grey uniform, body armor, and holding a humming cattle prod. "I think we've got a problem."

Margaret stepped forward and put up her hands. "Problem, gentlemen?" she asked, a saccharin grin set on her lips

The security guards, glanced at each other, the light flickering off their clear visors and polished riot-gear. "End of the line," said the man in front. "Turn around and out your hands on your he-" his sentence died in his throat as Janine snapped forward, quick as a thought, shoving his protective mask up and slamming the side of her hand into the guard's larynx.

As that man went to his knees, gurgling and clutching at his neck, Janine put the heel of her boot on his chest and kicked him to the ground, still holding his visor and ripping his helmet from his head. Simultaneously Ash bolted towards one of the other guards who reared back to swing his cattle prod. Ash caught the man's wrist, turned and planted his back against his adversary's hip. With a sharp twist, followed by a crack and a shriek of pain, Ash snapped the guard's elbow backwards. As the guard fumbled back, Ash pulled off his helmet, twirled the electric baton and smashed the prod into the guard's unprotected face. Instantly the man dropped, breathing but silent.

Casting about Ash spotted Margaret, behind the third man she held him in a sleeper hold until he went limp. Without hesitation, Ash grabbed the guard at his feet and dragged him into the elevator. Janine and Margaret followed his lead and dragged the unconscious men into the elevator, the latter immediately going for her radio and calling Vicki. Janine pulled up her sleeves, revealing the extensive collection of weapons lashed to her arms, while Ash went for his pokeballs and released Pikachu.

"Vicki," Margaret hissed into the radio as the elevator doors slid shut. "What's going on?"

"No idea," a voice sounded over the radio, a hint of panic in the words as a keyboard clicked in the background. "Someone triggered an alarm from another terminal. They've locked the elevators and cut me off from any of the security systems... I'm going hunting for that other terminal. You guys are on your own until then. Out."

The three infiltrators looked about at one another, uncertainty flitting across every face. Ash started to say something, but an era-piercing siren filled the hall and cut him off. The sound faded and rose again as red emergency lights came to life and an automated voice directed all research staff to evacuate to the emergency stairs.

"This way," said Margaret, pointing down the wide hallway lined with sliding doors and huge windows reinforced with steel bars. "The Telesthetic Lab isn't far."

Following Margaret and Janine, Ash set off down the hall, whispering to Pikachu to be ready to attack at a second's notice. He hadn't taken more than a dozen steps however, before Janine stopped dead in front of him, looking through one of the long windows that lined the hall. He almost reached out to move her along, but the stunned look on her face prompted him to pause and follow her gaze. Immediately, he also froze and Margaret stopped in front of them to look back at the pair of trainers.

On the other side the glass window, Ash saw a large room littered with tables stacked with laboratory equipment. It was at the lab table, propped up against the wall on the far side of the room however, that Ash stared. Stretched out across the table, its four arms held in thick metal restraints, was what Ash could only guess to have once been a Machamp.

The Pokemon had ostensibly undergone extensive surgery and Ash realized that whoever had been modifying the beast must have still had much work to do. Two of the Machamp's hands had been removed and capped with steel plates. All of the skin had been cut from the remaining two hands and their respective arms, exposing the red muscle and bloodied tendons, but also implanted steel wires and spiny claws, beneath. The Pokemon's sedated face however drew the most of Ash's attention. It's remaining eye, the other missing and leaving an empty socket, stared blankly at the window, unflinching. It's mouth hung limply open, half its yellowed teeth having been filed into grotesque points while the other half had yet to receive the same modification.

"So this is where they make them," Ash muttered, ignoring the alarm for a second.

"Silph sure has come a long way from just researching Pokemon," said Margaret, an edge of sarcasm in her words. "Now they're breeding and creating their own for the highest bidder."

"This is sick," said Janine, her frame rigid and her right hand balled into a shaking fist.

"Well then let's hurry up," said Margaret. "We're short on time."

Following Margaret and passing by a dozen more of the observation windows, Ash and Janine jogged passed more of the laboratories, each one occupied with another of Silph's and Rocket's experiments. They saw from the corners of their eyes one room where the absent scientists had been working to outfit half a dozen Arboks with cybernetic modifications. Another room held Pinsir and what might have once been a Starmie.

"Here," said Margaret, stopping in front of a sliding door without a window, pulling the keycard from her pocket, and running it through the reader.

Stopping and glancing behind him as the door slid open, Ash grimaced. "Where are the rest of the guards?" he asked.

"Who cares?" asked Margaret. "Follow me," she stepped over the threshold.

Ash shook his head a little and turned to walk through the door, glancing at Janine as she watched his back. He stepped over the threshold and turned to ensure Janine followed him, only to snap away as the door slammed shut behind him, cutting the girl off from the rest of the group.

"Shit!" Ash swore, whirling on the sturdy door and beating his fist against it once as Pikachu leapt from his shoulder to the ground. "Margaret," he said. "Get this thing-" Ash stopped as he felt a cold edge press against the side of his neck.

Without moving his head, Ash glanced down at the narrow blade held right at his throat. "Please," he heard Margaret whisper in his ear, "don't you or your Pikachu make any sudden moves," she ordered, "and turn around with me, very slowly."

Glancing at his Pikachu and trying to convey with a glance the gravity of the situation, Ash slowly pivoted around to face into the massive room in front of him, while Margaret stepped around behind him, still threatening him with the wicked;y sharp blade. Feeling Haunter nudge at the edge of his thoughts, Ash told the ghost to wait for a moment longer.

"So you are a traitor?" Ash muttered, facing into the enormous laboratory. He almost went on to insult her but the similarity between this place and his grandfather's old lab struck him dumb as he looked about.

Tables stacked high with lab equipment adorned the floorspace, radiating outward in semi-circles from the far end of the room where he saw an enormous spherical structure that towered to the ceiling. The sphere sported numerous spires that jutted from its frame and thick cables that ran from its equator to the floor and surrounding walls, and all around it the air seemed to vibrate and flow away. Ash's mouth dropped open a little, his mind almost refusing to accept that something that had seemed fantastic even in a dream now sat before him.

"I've got him," Margaret said, almost shouting to the apparently abandoned room.

A twitch of motion, so subtle it might have been a flickering of the sterile florescent lighting overhead, caught Ash's attention and he glanced to one of the shadows clinging to the walls all around the great sphere. When the figure stepped out of the gloom, Ash felt his stomach turn as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Well done, Miss Zelle," said James, wiping a lock of unnaturally blue hair from his face as he walked passed several tables and stopped a dozen paces from Ash and Margaret. "We will discuss your compensation later, but now," he turned to Ash, "I would have a word if you will."

Ash's face tightened without his command and his hands balled into fists. "Simple," he spat. "Fuck you."

Without any change in his flat expression, James knocked a pokeball from his belt and it burst open in a flash of white light. "I have the advantage here," said Team Rocket's agent as a hulking Nidoking coalesced from the light. "And frankly the one reason your not dead right now is because you've done a great deal to catch my master's attention. He has an offer for you."

"No seriously," Ash responded, his tone unchanged. "Fuck you." He reached out with his mind and contacted Haunter, feeling the ghost hovering right beside Margaret. _This bitch is yours,_ he whispered to the ghost, hearing Haunter's giggling in the back of his head immediately thereafter.

"Why do you insist on provoking me?" James sighed. "You've been captured in the heart of my stronghold, you're looking death in the face, and yet you still spit on your parent's offer of amnesty. Why-"

Refocusing instantly, James stopped mid sentence as Margaret sucked in a breath and went rigid. The woman's arm wrenched away from Ash, still holding the knife as Ash grabbed Pikachu and dove behind one of the nearby tables for cover. James sidestepped behind his Nidoking and went for the other pokeballs at his belt as Margaret, her face a mask of terror and her body under an alien influence, reared back with the knife and drove it into her own stomach.

"So he is using ghosts," James muttered as Margaret, crying, dropped to her knees and began tearing out her bowels with her bare hands. "Not unexpected," he snapped the pokeball open.

"You're not getting away this time!" Ash shouted from behind the table, grabbing three pokeballs from his belt and tossing them out onto the empty floor between the back wall and the rearmost desks. "This time you're dead!" he said, getting to his feet as Arcanine, Charizard, and Butterfree all materialized out of the white light.

Eyes narrowed, Ash cast about the room, instantly spotting James several rows of tables away. The young Gym Leader's breath caught when he saw three more Pokemon swirling into existence around the Rocket agent, two of them obviously having undergone Silph's brand of modification. In front of James stood the Nidoking, it's glowing green eyes locked on Ash as the florescent light overhead flickered off the metal plates armoring its hide. Beside the Nidoking there stood hairless Primeape, its form twitching as it beat its robotic hands together.

"We can still negotiate," said James, sidestepping to move behind his Scyther as the Pokemon, its wings removed and its serrated metal forearms hung in front of its form. "Your ghost wont work on me after all," James pointed to a spot of hazy air just over his head as a purple mist, seemingly coming from nowhere, shaped itself into a vaguely humanoid form and two red eyes lit up in the center shape's mass. Filling the room with an eery laugh, like chains being dragged through mud, the Gengar finished taking shape and hovered above James.

"I'm done talking!" Ash yelled. "Haunter!" he glanced at the drooping figure of what was once Margaret and jerked his finger towards James. "Kill him!" Filling the room with a second gurgling laugh Haunter, in physical form, burst out of Margaret's chest in a spray of bone and tissue and rushed at James.

Swooping out of the air the Gengar intercepted Haunter less than a meter from James and the two ghosts burst into a cloud of violet miasma. The mist split into two distinct portions, both with their own sets of glowing red eyes, and rushed into the air to deal with each other while James and Ash simultaneously shouted for their Pokemon to attack.

Roaring like devils, Arcanine and Charizard charged and leapt onto and over the tables, crushing instruments and equipment as they dove for the enemy. The Nidoking bellowed a war cry and tore forward, smashing through tables as the Primeape hissed its challenge and sprang to the ready. Pikachu chittered and jumped up onto a table cleared in Arcanine's wake, took aim at the fray as chaos erupted and the screaming of monsters filled the room, and loosed a blinding lightning bolt that shook the room with its thunderous boom.

Just outside the Telesthetic Lab, Janine faced the door, unable to miss the sounds of thunder and the cries of battle on the other side. She cast about for another way in, but spotted nothing more than a small air vent high in the wall that was far too narrow for even her small frame.

"Got to be another way in," she muttered, flexing her hand as her mind buzzed with adrenaline.

"I'm glad to say there isn't," a cool baritone sounded some distance behind her.

Janine managed to contain herself, taking a slow and measured breath as she turned around to the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall. "Hello, Koga," she muttered, barely loud enough to be heard over the buzzing alarms and seeing her father striding confidently out of the side elevator halfway down the wide hall. "So you sent Margaret and locked Vicki out of the security system. Nice trap."

"No need to be so cold," called Koga, closing to a few dozen feet. "I'm only here to collect you and take you home. Already you must hear James dealing with young Ketchum. The boy is dead, he just doesn't realize it yet. All that's left is for you to come home."

"Well then you have a problem," Janine muttered, pulling off her lab coat and reaching for the two pokeballs hanging at her belt, "because I'm not going home until you're dead, traitor."

Brow furrowing, Koga reached under his purple cloak and pulled three pokeballs of his own. "I've had enough of your insolence," he said, the quietest hint of a growl in his words, "and your ungratefulness."

As the white flashes of the orbs momentarily washed out the crimson emergency light of the hallway, a massive red and black Ariados and the floating shape of a hulking Weezing appeared beside her. Adjacent Koga the light swirled into a hovering Crobat and an almost amorphous mound of sludge as tall as the man himself.

On Janine's and Koga's orders, the Ariados and the Crobat both charged at each other, while the Weezing floated forward, expanded, and belched out a great cloud of black gas that sprayed towards Koga and his Pokemon. The Muk rolled over itself like scum oozing downhill towards Janine and her forces. With a flick of her wrist, Janine threw out another pokeball that snapped open and tossed a smaller mound of sludge into the fray, just as Ariados leapt into the air and barefaced into the Crobat.

"Mega Drain!" Koga shouted through the smokescreen.

"Poison Jab!" Janine countered.

Hissing and shaking, the Crobat's lower jaw dislocated with a crunch and the Pokemon lunged up at the Ariados pinning it to the ground. At the same moment the enormous spider raised its abdomen into the air, a wicked stinger lurching from between its spinnerets and angling down as the Pokemon brought its full weight to bear against the bat. Both Pokemon hissed as Crobat's fangs tore into Ariados' carapace and the massive stinger punched through the bat's hide.

Just behind the grappling Pokemon, Janine's Grimer took aim at Koga's Muk and threw itself forward, tackling the larger Pokemon with reckless abandon as the floating Weezing sucked in a breath of air and sprayed another wave of purple gas towards Koga. The man in the cloak reached inside his cape and drew out a small plastic bag filled with a moist rag. Throwing the damp cloth over his face he calmly stepped back as the poison gas rolled over him.

SC

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Ash barked. "Arcanine, Fire Spin!"

Between Ash and James, as both trainers shouted orders to their Pokemon, Charizard squared off against the menacing Nidoking while Arcanine faced down the hissing Scyther. The dragon roared and reared up on its hind legs as the Nidoking charged and the two Pokemon slammed into each other and tumbled to the ground. Nidoking angled its head to stab at Charizard with its horn, but the dragon craned its neck, opened its jaws, and and loosed an inferno that bathed the Nidoking in red flames. The purple Pokemon reflexively leaned back, metal armor glowing with scalding heat, giving Charizard the leverage to lunge up and sink its claws into the cracks between his opponent's defenses.

Heaving with effort, every muscle in its body bulging, Charizard pushed Nidoking off and rolled to all fours, flame-tipped tail swinging and knocking into tables as the dragon jumped aside and leapt off one of the tables, sinking his claws into one wall and sticking almost fifteen feet off the ground. As Nidoking pushed itself to its feet, Charizard opened its jaws again and sprayed out a clinging, burning ooze that washed over the Nidoking, as well as everything around it, and lit the whole are ablaze.

Arcanine disappeared in a blur of speed, prompting the Scyther turn a split second too late. Arcanine reappeared out of thin air, right in the Scyther's face, and jumped forward, howling and biting down. The Two Pokemon went down to the ground in a heap as Scyther punched with both arms, one finding only empty air but the other slicing into Arcanine's chest, opening a crimson wound but rebounding off the Pokemon's ribcage. The massive Canine however held its bite on Scyther's torso. The space between its teeth flashed white then red as fire blasted from the canine's chest into the Scyther's open wound.

The tall insect screeched in pain and began slashing and flailing, wildly cutting wide gashes in Arcanine's pelt and splashing the surrounding floor and tables in red blood. Arcanine's response was a quick whimper, followed by a roar muffled by how deeply it bit into the Scyther's throat, tearing and shaking its teeth, and blasting fire into the insect's carapace. Raising its legs, Scyther planted its feet against Arcanine's chest and heaved, throwing the Pokemon away but also opening its own throat with a splash of green ichor as Arcanine's teeth ripped away the insect's protective shell. The pair, both bleeding from numerous wounds, growled and faced off against each other, beginning to slowly circle as they waited for a slip in their opponent's defense.

As Haunter and Gengar overhead, both flying at each other, dissolving into mist upon impact and reforming only to attack again, laughed manically and dueled, Pikachu and the cybernetic Primeape faced off against each other directly between Ash and James. Crouched on all fours, Pikachu darted right to flank the Primeape, but the hairless cyborg whirled to dodge out of the rodent's lightning attack. An arc of white energy blurred passed the Primeape and punched into one of the metal tables, blasting a hole the size of a fist through the metal with a boom as James stepped away to avoid the flying bits of metal.

Sizing up the opponent, Ash glanced between Pikachu and the Primeape. "Keep your distance," he ordered.

James's eyes flitted between the battle directly before him and the rest of the combatants. Eyes going wide he whirled around just in time to see the Butterfree that had floated silently behind him. Going to his belt and pulling off his last pokeball, James threw the orb to the ground just as Ash ordered his insect to attack.

Butterfree streaked forward, dodging around the column of white light as the figure's massive frame rose up on two legs. Butterfree threw open its wings, an orange powder flying in all directions, but James dove to the side and under a table as a huge grey hand lashed out from the light. The Graveler's fist closed on Butterfree, popping its exoskeleton open like a berry and splattering goo over the floor. Ash flinched at the display and clenched his jaw, instantly counting the Pokemon on both sides and measuring his disadvantage.

"Shit," he muttered as the Graveler croaked a gloating laugh. He went to his belt, grabbed the last pokeball, and threw it to the ground. Munchlax sprang from the cloud of white light, glancing around at the battlefield and looking up at Ash as he pointed at the Primeape and ordered Munchlax to attack. The little blue Pokemon squeaked in fear, turned, and ran under one of the tables to hide.

"Goddamn it," Ash hissed, looking about as Haunter's near hysterical laughter sounded overhead. The young trainer looked between battles, and then up, as Haunter and Gengar continued their duel. "Charizard!" Ash ordered, spotting his Pokemon still clinging to the wall and staring down at a badly injured Nidoking. "Finish it off! Slash it apart!"

Eyes flashing with an inner frenzy as the order registered, Charizard leapt from the wall at the staggering Nidoking, all four limbs extended, every claw outstretched. The dragon landed on the Nidoking, ignoring when the purple Pokemon's horn punched into his gut. Charizard drove its hind claws into the Pokemon's belly, almost tearing away the armored plate as it did so, and dug its front claws into the base of the Nidoking's armored skull.

Straining with all its strength, roaring with effort, Charizard wrenched back and tore the Nidoking's head from its shoulders, pulling the skull and a sizable portion of spine clean of the Pokemon's body. As the corpse toppled back, Charizard landed and hunched over his trophy, throwing his head back in a victorious rage and roaring.

James swore under his breath and reached into his boot as Ash ordered Charizard to engage the Graveler. The Rocket agent kept his eye on the battle between Pikachu and Primeape, a duel consisting of both Pokemon dodging some attempt by the other to flank, then counterattack, as he drew a thin knife from his boot. Watching for a pattern to the fight, James drew back, his whole attention focusing for an instant as he flicked the knife through the air. The weapon tumbled end over end towards empty space for a split second, then thudded into its target just as Pikachu's arcing jump brought the Pokemon in line with the attack. Pikachu dropped to the ground with a squeak as the blade slipped perfectly between two ribs and the Primeape charged.

Spotting the scene out of the corner of one eye, Ash's figure froze as he saw the Primeape standing over his unmoving Pikachu. Ash couldn't even breathe as the cybernetic Pokemon opened its clawed hands and brought them down on Pikachu like hammers, again and again, beating it into the floor.

Suddenly a single breath flooded Ash's lungs as his figure shook. "No!" he screamed, charging forward from the shelter of the rear and drawing his own knife from his belt. "Get away from him!" the trainer bellowed.

Shock playing across its face, the Primeape looked up at Ash as the trainer brought his knife down and drove his weapon into the Pokemon's bulbous body. The Primeape staggered back with a shriek as, in a flash, Ash pulled his long knife from its target and slashed again, then again. The Pokemon raised its hands to defend itself, but the next blind attack drove the knife to the hilt into the Pokemon's eye, dropping it instantly.

Hearing a voice, Ash looked up just in time for James's black boot to blot out his vision. He felt his head explode into pain and suddenly knew he was on his back, bursts of pain firing into his head one after another. One eye open, he spotted James knelt over him, beating his fists into Ash's face, each blow making the world flash white and red as the battle raged all around. Ash couldn't count the blows for the pain, he just watched, dumbstruck as the world grew paler and paler and hotter and hotter.

"You should have accepted our offer," James snarled, grabbing Ash by the collar and lifting up into a sitting position. "We could have avoided all this bloodshed... so many innocent people dead, needlessly sacrificed to your hero complex," he shouted and slammed his fist into Ash's face, knocking him back to the ground, then lifting him by his collar again. "You could have done so much good," James went on, voice grating despite the calm frozen to his features. "But you just had to play the hero... had to keep fighting and needlessly killing good people who were only trying to fix this fucking world," James beat him back to the ground and pulled him up again. "Well, my master is," he drew out the word, his voice beginning to shake, "going to make the world better... You could have helped save the world, but instead you're going to die here like an animal."

Ash coughed, feeling blood well up in his mouth as his vision blurred, then cleared again. Lashing out he slapped his palms over James's ears, making the agent scream in surprise and pain and stumble back. The young trainer rolled forward, reaching out as James dropped to his knees and grabbing the agent by his collar.

"You have got to die," Ash spat, grabbing a fistful of James's hair and throwing his head into the floor. Ash pulled the agent up by his hair again and took his head in both hands, straddling him and smashing his face into tile floor again and again. Ignoring the battle around him entirely, Ash focused solely on the limp figure beneath him, one blow faded into the next as Ash beat James's skull into the tile. Eventually the young trainer heard himself screaming as he attacked, he felt his muscles growing tired, and after a passage of time he couldn't measure, he couldn't continue.

The world all around him seemed to come back into focus and Ash smelled smoke, and heard the last cries of a dying battle. He looked down at the face-down figure beneath him, then around the laboratory where he spotted Charizard and Arcanine ganging up on the Graveler. The Scyther and Primeape were both dead and dismembered and as he scanned the scene, Ash watched absentmindedly as the Graveler went down underneath a torrent of fire and flailing claws.

Overhead Ash heard a cry of fear, and looked up to see the Gengar, seeing James unmoving, fleeing into the ether and Haunter electing not to give chase. The young trainer stood up as the lab grew quiet aside from the crackling of what few flammable materials remained in the room burning. Without any thought, he put his boot to Jame's shoulder and rolled the man onto his back, immediately seeing the agent's eyes remained open as he slowly drew breath.

"Tell me where your boss is hiding," Ash growled, his head still burning as he put his boot on James's throat, "and I'll make your passing less painful."

His face disfigured almost beyond recognition, James sucked in a wheezing breath and a thin smirk spread across his smashed lips. "So... what?" he muttered. "You want me to dump some kind of useful hint for the rest of your campaign? Some bit of information you need to continue your quest?" He chuckled until the pressure from Ash's foot cut the expression short.

"You've been defeated in the heart of your stronghold and you're looking death in the face," Ash said, letting off James's throat just a little. "Information in exchange for a quick death sounds more than fair to me."

James swallowed. "Information," he muttered, watching Arcanine and Charizard both step up to flank Ash as their trainer's face grew even harder. "Alright, how's this?" the agent said. "You spared my woman's life. To repay the kindness, Jesse and I killed your woman in Celadon." He watched with a smirk as Ash's countenance went blank and then fell. "Ran her through with a spear... you should have heard how she squealed like a stuck pig. And the best part, Jesse's long gone. Look all you want, she's still out there but you'll never find her. You'll never get your revenge."

As James began to laugh, a tremor ran through Ash's frame. The echoing laughter grew louder as Ash took his foot away from James's neck and turned away. The young trainer, eyes going blank as his jaw went lax, leaned over Arcanine and gripped his mane for support.

"Charizard," Ash said, drawing the dragon's attention as James grew quieter, but continued to alternate between snickering and choking on the blood pooling in his throat. "Kill him."

Ash closed his eyes and dropped his face into Arcanine's mane as Charizard dropped to the ground beside James, all rage leaving the dragon's face. He sniffed the agent once, looking at him with a measure of curiosity, then pulled back, positioned a single clawed hand over James's chest, and drove the four talons through the agent's trunk and into the tile beyond. Immediately the man's laughing stopped and the room grew quieter still.

Face still a blank mask, Ash pushed away from Arcanine, and looked across the room, spotting the dead figures laying strewn here and there, but coming finally to look at Pikachu. He walked up to the little rodent and dropped to his knees beside him. Holding his breath, Ash reached down and picked up the Pokemon's smashed frame from the puddle of blood in which it sat. He looked down at the Pokemon and he took a deep breath as his lip quivered.

"How much more..." Ash muttered as he looked passed Pikachu, into space. "How much longer?" He set Pikachu's body down and closed his eyes, fighting off shivering and clenching his fists. He didn't turn as the door to the laboratory slid open and two sets of footsteps moved inside.

"What the hell happened here?" asked a feminine voice. "What kinda meat grinder came through here?"

"Ash," Janine's voice called. "Ash are you- oh my god."

One set of footsteps running to him, Ash didn't answer and kept his eyes closed. He felt warm arms wrap around him and he looked up, seeing Janine looking at him.

"Well," said the girl, voice trembling, "say something..."

Ash thought for a second, then looked back at her. "I think I can go a little farther," he said, his eyes sharpening as he took a breath.

Confusion playing on her features for a second, Janine remained knelt by him and turned. She gestured to the shorter girl with fiery red hair and a freckled complexion slowly making her way to them and giving Ash's Pokemon a wide berth.

"Ash, this is Vicki," she said. "a very good friend of mine."

"A pleasure," said Vicki, voice upbeat as she folded her arms. "Pardon, but are you alright? You look like a Charizard's chew toy."

Ash shook his head and answered slowly. "I'm not dead," he answered, pushing himself up to his feet with a sigh as he turned to Janine. "Where were you? Are you OK?"

"I'm so sorry about that," she answered. "Koga set this whole thing up as a trap and ambushed me out in the hall."

"Would've killed you too," said Vicki, green eyes sparkling under the flickering florescent lights. "Of course I showed up to foil his plans, and, drum roll please, completely disable all of Silph's security in the process. Now if you two are done with all this happy-feeling stuff, we can get to business getting Sabrina out of that contraption."

"Sure," Ash straightened up, still leaning on Janine a little as she stepped up beside him. "She's in there, right?" he nodded to the enormous spherical machine on the far wall.

"Ay," said the redhead. "That's Sabrina's amplifier cell. Silph spent more money than most people know exists building that thing and now we get to shut it down. There's a funny somewhere in there."

"So what does it do?" asked Ash as the trio walked closer to the device. Quickly he glanced about, trying to locate Haunter, but finding the ghost had again become invisible and now floated behind him.

"Basically," said Vicki. "It keeps Sabrina asleep while amplifying her psychic power."

Ash frowned. "What good does it do them to make her more powerful if she's unconscious?"

"They're using her for something," Vicki answered, walking up to the control panel at the sphere's base. "All they told us lowly engineers is that Silph needed to direct all of Sabrina's psychic energy to the power plant just northeast of here. Why is beyond me." Vicki turned around after hitting a few keys on the panel. "I don't know what releasing her is going to do," she added.

"Just do it," said Ash.

"Pushy, pushy. Suit yourself," said the redhead, turning back to the panel and pulling a small flash drive from her pocket. "This might take a minute." She inserted the drive in the interface, then spotted a small footlocker by the panel and stopped to kneel down by it.

Janine looked up at Ash as he stared up at the waves rolling off the machine. "You sure you're alright?" she asked quietly.

Ash shrugged and faced her. "Not really," he said. "But I'm done complaining," he went on after a breath. "Whining never fixed anything, so I'm not going to sit around and moan about it," he looked at her with a combination of a nod and a weak grin.

Janine smiled, stepped in, and hugged him. "Well if you ever need anything," she said, then paused "You get the idea."

"Thanks," said Ash, unable to resist and embracing her back. "That helps." He paused for a second, then muttered, "Did Margaret have anything important on her?"

"Uh," Janine thought. "She might have her Soul Badge on her. Why?"

Ash nodded over to the back wall where the woman's corpse rested against the wall.

"Oh," the girl in the lab coat toned, spotting the mangled remains. "Maybe I should go get that," she started towards the back of the room.

"Hey, look here," Vicki chimed from the open foot locker, holding up a red tank top and a pair of white pants. "Clothes."

Ash sighed. "Those are probably Sab-" he stopped as an alarm sounded in the room and a small emergency light on top of the sphere lit up.

Vicki got up and looked at the control panel. "What kind of question is that?" she asked. "Yes, I've gone this far, of course I want to proceed. Stupid machine." She hit a button and turned around as the siren continued to sound. "Hey, the computer is saying something about catastrophic containment failure at the power plant,"

"Great," Janine muttered, kneeling down by Margaret's remains. "What is that supposed to mean."

A loud pop filled the room and all at once the sirens went silent and every light in the room shut off. The three trainers sat in silence for a few seconds, the only sound in the room, a quiet hum like that of an idling motor, coming from the enormous sphere.

"That totally wasn't my fault," said Vicki.

Before Ash or Janine could respond, the whir grew louder as somewhere in the wall behind the sphere an emergency generator kicked on. The lights in the laboratory flickered back to life and a the huge spherical machine hissed, sending the three trainers and Ash's Pokemon scurrying away. The floor shook as the platform on which the machine sat sank into the floor, all of the spires retracting into the contraption's frame as the heavy cables all snapped away. A hiss sounded from the machine when its lower half had completely disappeared into the floor. A seam appeared between the upper hemisphere and the lower as the machine gradually split in two, heavy rods slowly lifting the top half into the air as some kind of fluid flowed out of the interior and washed down grates all around the machine.

As the inky darkness inside the sphere retreated before the light of the laboratory, the three trainers saw a large chair suspended by cables in the center of the machine. Sitting in the device, unrestrained aside from a single strap around her waist and a transparent mask attached to her and the chair, sat a woman. Her long hair both clinging to her naked figure and clumped around her shoulders, she reclined back with her eyes closed, slowly breathing into the mask.

"That's her alright," said Vicki.

A quick cough shook through her frame and the woman's eyes opened. Instantly Ash felt a shiver run through his mind. He knew Haunter felt it too, as the ghost retreated a little farther into the back of the room. Walking forward and into the machine with Vicki, while Janine watched from the back, Ash pulled the mask from Sabrina's face while Vicki undid the strap around her waist.

"Sabrina?" Ash asked, looking down at her and making a point to maintain eye-contact. "Can you hear me?"

Sabrina's eyes, one violet and the other red as blood, focused and in an instant they were on Ash. The young trainer felt something that made his mind recoil, as though a hand had touched the back of his head though the trainer knew Sabrina had made no such move. He remained focused and awkwardly helped Sabrina sit up straight, making sure to keep his hands in acceptable places, though the Gym Leader did not take her eyes off him.

"Why can't I read your mind," Sabrina asked, her voice reaching Ash's ears and seeming to echo quietly inside his head. Before she allowed Ash to answer, Sabrina's mouth dropped open a little, though a subdued smile remained on her lips. "Ash Ketchum," she enunciated the name carefully. "Mewtwo was right. The Universe really does have a sense of irony..."

Ash glanced back at Janine and Vicki as he helped Sabrina to her feet. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "What's the irony?"

Taking a second to get her bearings, Sabrina looked at Vicki, extended her hand, and snapped her fingers. "You," said the woman, her wet hair still hanging at her shoulders. "My clothes."

Vicki looked at the garments in one of her hands. "Oh," she said, handing the clothes to Sabrina before retreating a little. "Sorry."

"What do you mean, irony?" Ash pressed.

Sabrina, as nonchalantly as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, slipped into the white pants. "Mewtwo told us to get you out of here and that you'd have more information. What's going on?"

Still watching Ash to the exclusion of everyone else int the room, Sabrina pulled the tank top down over her head, straightened it out some, then flipped her hair back before turning to the young Gym Leader. "So many questions," she muttered casually, folding one arm across her stomach and resting the opposite hand on her face. "You shouldn't be so impatient. Before we go any farther, I need to ask you one very important question."

Ash nodded and crossed his arms. "Alright," he said, "what is it."

"Do you remember your father's name?"

"What?" Ash flinched, taken aback by the question. "How in the world is that-"

"It would humor me to no end. And as it's bound to come up, I might as well get a chuckle out of it now," said Sabrina. "Go ahead. What was his name?"

"Whatever," Ash sighed. "Mom said it was Giovanni. Now how is that relevant, exactly."

A wide smirk spread across Sabrina's face and she laughed once. "Because," she said, "Mewtwo was at a huge disadvantage, pitted as he was against the villainous head of Team Rocket, a Savant by the name of Giovanni. Now it seems he's evened the odds with a Savant of his own."

Ash remained silent for a second, his mouth held tightly shut as everyone in the room stared at him. He drew a breath and began to speak, but stopped as the floor rumbled and a dull thud, like the sound of distant thunder echoed from the floors above.

* * *

AN: So here's the part where I give an author's note... and I can't really think of anything to say. Oh well. As usual, thanks to everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	26. Chapter 26

AN: First and foremost, a big round of thanks goes to my ever vigilant beta, for his saving me from making a massive mistake. Second, thanks to all of you who keep reading. It's nice to know you're enjoying the story which, by reading this far, I'll assume you are... that or you're some kind of masochist... not that there's anything wrong with that either... OK, moving on now.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 26 – Eye of the Hurricane

"My god..." Vicki muttered, one hand held before her face as she stared down at what remained of Margaret. She watched for a second as Janine reexamined the corpse's belongings, picking over her remains for any missed clues. "It's like something just... busted out her chest."

Janine stood up, exacerbation flitting across her face. "Thank you for illuminating that..." she said, flicking some of the blood from her fingers and wiping her hands across the lab coat she still wore. The girl glanced across the room, first at James's corpse, then at the undisturbed body of Ash's Pikachu, then at Ash himself, standing in front of the machine and speaking with Sabrina in relative private. "What do you think they're talking about?" asked Janine, head lowered as she eyed the other Gym Leaders.

Glancing at the two trainers, Vicki shrugged, then dropped her hands in her pockets. "When Sabrina asks for a minute alone, I'm not keen on prying." The redhead raised an eyebrow and smirked when Janine remained silent and continued glaring across the room. "You know," she went on, turning back to Margaret's remains, "I'd known Margaret since before I knew she was Fuchsia... and I always thought she was like a psychotic lowlife."

"And I think calling her that is an insult to the psychotic lowlife community," Janine muttered, without turning to face her friend.

"But I always knew she was good at her job, whatever that might have been at any given moment." Vicki toned, pressing one finger to her cheek.

"Of course she was good, that's why Koga hired her," said Janine. "What's your meaning?"

Vicki stepped between Janine and the other Gym Leaders, turning her back to the private conversation. "If you must know, I'm trying to distract you," she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Ash and Sabrina before turning back to Janine with a knowing expression. "I've been your friend for a long time and I can see where you're aiming. You should probably hold off on any romantic intent. Men never work the way you want them to. They don't multitask."

"Why can't you ever just speak plainly?" Janine griped, keeping her voice down but letting her tone grow biting.

"With respect, I always speak plainly with you," said the green eyed girl. "I can also read you like a book, and I can read men just as easily. I'm only warning you that given a choice between a woman and vengeance he feels he's owed, a man will choose revenge every time. I'm only looking out for you, Janie."

"Don't forget your place," Janine sighed. "I'm perfectly mature enough to look after myself in that regard and if that's all you have-"

"Remember that conversation we had a few weeks back..." interrupted the redhead, eyes mirroring the smile on her lips, "when I mentioned a successful trial run of the adenoviral gene therapy?"

"I remember, your message was why I came here in the first place" Janine interrupted, her demeanor immediately changing, growing more focused. "What did you find out?"

"The initial trials, the successful ones, were conducted on Cinnabar under Blaine Katsura," said Vicki, "which makes sense now that we know Margaret was a traitor. She reported your condition to Team Rocket years ago when you first told me and her about it. They then ordered Blaine to develop a treatment to coerce Koga into turning Fuchsia over to them and, thanks to Koga's correspondences, we know now that the treatment exists... you see my point."

Janine's mouth dropped open a little. "So you're saying-"

"You need to get to Cinnabar," Vicki cut her off, reaching behind her back and producing a small satchel from under her shirt. She handed Janine the package. "A parting gift from one of my contacts. That should be enough of the mix to get you through the end of next month, relatively symptom-free. Now, you need to get to Blaine before Team Rocket or those Johtans do-" she stopped as the ground trembled and the lights flickered overhead. "Alright, really," muttered the redhead. "What is all that damn shaking?"

Glancing at Sabrina, Janine shrugged, still unsure whether to look at the other woman's red eye or the purple one. "I'm sure we'll find out soon."

Across the room, Ash pulled his hands from his pockets, pausing after a long and mostly one-sided conversation. "That's pretty much it," he said, awkwardly shifting his weight away from the woman standing far closer to him than the volume of their conversation necessitated. "Here we are."

Sabrina folded her arms across her chest and opened her eyes. "Wow, you have been causing quite a lot of havoc," she said, tone steady and not at all impolite, "All of our, or rather Team Rocket's" the psychic corrected herself, "models pointed towards your causing only a minor disruption before Jesse and James finished you off."

"Can't say I'm sorry to disappoint," Ash muttered.

"On the contrary," Sabrina answered, a flicker of amusement in her eyes as she looked at Ash. They psychic shifted, perfectly casually, a little closer to him as though the action had been completely unconscious. "It's always fascinating when someone beats the numbers. But...that should be enough on your part for the moment. Ready to move on?" she asked, starting to say something else but stopping as a lock of her hair floated up seemingly of its own accord. Chagrin flitted in her features. "Please tell your partner to stop pestering me. It's quite rude."

"Gladly," Ash nodded, tuning out Haunter's giggling and insistence that the psychic didn't currently have the strength to resist any incorporeal hijinks. Ash frowned as a second lock of Sabrina's hair floated up. The two rough pigtails danced up and down on their own for a second as Haunter silently giggled.

"Just wait until I'm recovered," Sabrina whispered. Instantly a purple spark, accompanied by a sharp crack shot between her temple and an apparently empty zone of space.

Smirking as Haunter yelped in surprise and dove away from the psychic, Ash put his hands in his pocket and took a step back from the older Gym Leader. "So where to now?"

"My gym," said the psychic. "I left my subordinates with orders to keep tabs on several ranking members of Team Rocket and the Kanto League. Assuming anyone can actually follow orders, we should be able to locate Blaine and get a feel for his involvement in the events on Cinnabar."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I'll assume you're going to explain," he said, following her as the Gym Leader walked towards the two Fuchsia agents standing by the exit.

"Patience. I'm not sure myself what's going on yet. My condition for the last year hasn't lent itself to much activity." Sabrina stopped by the exit and faced Janine. "I believe my thanks would be appropriate," she extended her hand.

The girl in the lab coat nodded and gave Sabrina's hand a quick shake. "You're welcome."

"And thank you," said the psychic, turning to Vicki and nodding to her. "I appreciate your hand in this, and it's pleasant to finally know your true loyalties."

"Would you have trusted me if I'd told you?" asked the redhead.

"Indeed I would have," Sabrina turned for the door and lead the other three trainers into the hall beyond, where only the red emergency lighting provided any illumination, though the alarms had since gone silent. "I don't mean to insist that we hurry up and wait," said the psychic, glancing at Ash who had stopped and looked back into the laboratory, his face hard, "but the sooner we leave, the sooner we can plan our next move."

"Sorry," Ash said, turning away from Pikachu's body with a deep breath and following the group down a bend in the corridor that lead them passed several more of the long observation windows.

As they walked, Vicki and Janine both kept glancing through the windows and at the labs beyond. All but a slight few were occupied by various Pokemon, each in different stages of cybernetic modification.

"What about them?" Vicki nodded into one of the labs where several dozen Rattata sat idly in cages or sedated on sterile steel tables. "Can we do anything for them?"

Without so much as a stutter in her stride, Sabrina kept walking towards the door at the end of the hall. "Like turn them loose in the city? No. They're all dead anyway," said the Psychic as casually as ever. "Your setting me free cut power to the entire city so all of these labs will be without life support before the hour's up." She stopped and opened the door to a tall stairwell. This room also was lit only by emergency lighting, and all of the trainers could hear high overhead a dull thumping, as if a great hailstones were falling on a thick stone roof. "Besides, with the fate they were bound for, asphyxiation is a happier end."

Sabrina's words ringing in his ears, their chill clinging to him, Ash climbed the stairs. Hand tight on the rail the young trainer didn't utter a word, instead running through his mind over and over again how it could be possible that he was unknowingly linked to Team Rocket. He tried to reason it out, tried to rationalize away the sinking feeling in his chest, but no matter what he told himself, the fear seeped deeper and deeper into his mind. He couldn't explain why, or how he knew, but something about what Sabrina had said about Giovanni and Team Rocket rang with absolute truth. He had just started to wonder if this growing gut feeling was one of those that Bill had warned him about, when a roar startled him out of his thoughts.

"What the hell is going on up here?" asked Vicki as Sabrina opened up a heavy metal door, immediately filling the entire stairwell with a colossal thundering and a rapidly pulsating white light.

Forcing a shocked Ash and Janine to cover their ears, boom after boom, dozens of thunderbolts per second rattled the room and shook the reinforced building. Sabrina grimaced and reached up to cover her ears as the vibrations in the air made Ash's teeth chatter and his legs shake. The psychic shouted something at the other trainers, though her words disappeared unheard into the din.

Even through the booming however, Ash could sense Haunter's growing trepidation. The ghost hunkered close to the trainer, casting about and floating invisibly into Ash's pack where it quickly went dormant. Ash, still covering his ears, stepped back into the stairwell and shouted for the others to come back and close the door. Immediately it became obvious that they hadn't heard him, and he shouted again, louder this time.

Just as Janine and Vicki both turned around to come back, the noise grew a little fainter and the number of thunderbolts going off dropped noticeably to maybe one or two booms every other second. The group of trainers slowly uncovered their ears as the noise grew tolerable, and looked around at one another and their surroundings. The stairwell had lead them up into a hallway lined on one side with office doors, and with waist high windows on the other. The floor, a polished tile, was now littered with countless shards of broken glass from the windows shattered by the thunder.

Thunderbolts still booming every other second or so, Ash stepped cautiously into the hall and glanced around, shielding his eyes from the sporadic flashes of lighting still lighting up the hall. "What was that?" he muttered, looking down the chamber and seeing every window shattered.

Sabrina, her bare feet wreathed in a faint purple glow the same color as her dimly luminescent eye as she hovered an inch above the ground, motioned to the sky outside. "That," she said, a grin on her lips as the other trainers walked to the windows, glass crunching under their boots, "is a prime example of what happens when humans try to manipulate things beyond their comprehension." She again motioned to the sky where a constant flashing of lightning and booming of thunder illuminated the dark clouds with a constantly shifting spiderweb of light. "Just imagine... the source of the storm is almost one hundred miles off. I can only dream of what it looks like at the epicenter."

"Is it coming from the power plant you mentioned?" asked Ash, transfixed by the sky.

"Yes," Sabrina nodded.

"What caused it?" Ash went on.

"Hah," the psychic laughed once. "Well to be truthful, I don't know what to call it... a god, maybe. No, 'force of nature' is more appropriate."

The three other trainers waited a second, all standing at the windows and transfixed by the tendrils of light streaking across the sky. The weight of his pack pulled on his shoulder some, and Ash reached up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. When his hand found only empty air however, the young Gym Leader sucked in a breath and bit his lip.

"Care to explain?" Ash snapped himself to another thought before the tightness in his chest could grow more uncomfortable. "Are we in danger here?"

"I doubt it," said the psychic, taking a breath and staring off into space as she idly floated up next to Ash, her shoulder brushing his, " And if you care to know, it started almost sixteen months ago... Saffron was on the verge of collapse. Ever since Pallet Town was destroyed, cutting off the flow of natural gas to most of the East, the price of fuel had done nothing but skyrocket, sometimes doubling from one month to another... on top of that, food from the west was getting more and more expensive thanks to the shortage, and trade with Celadon hit an all time low thanks to their own declining stability.

"Team Rocket and I were doing everything in our power to smooth things out, but nothing we tried had any positive effect. Mostly we just made our economy worse," she shrugged. "And then, the fighter's rebelled at a... most inopportune time. You might remember that machine Team Rocket built in Lavender," she looked at Ash, "to pull in the ghosts?"

Ash nodded. "Not with any fondness," he said as what little rain was falling outside ceased all together.

Standing back from them a little, Janine crossed her arms and hiked up her shoulders some. "Could they stand any closer?" she muttered, words barely audible. Janine twitched when the psychic paused in the middle of resuming her explanation and glanced back at her, red eye studying her for a split second. For an instant, Janine felt her head go light before Sabrina's face softened a little.

"They were hoping to use it," said Sabrina, turning back to Ash and leaving Janine silent, "to finally defeat our good friend Mewtwo by flooding Kanto with weakling ghosts to disrupt his psychic abilities. It would have worked too, but there was just one problem, besides you of course."

Janine nudged Vicki. "They sure are chatty," whispered the girl, shaking herself out of her daze and sticking her hands in her pockets with no small amount of force. "Talk, talk, talk."

Glancing at her long time friend with a wry grin, Vicki nudged her back. "Of course," she said. "Somebody has to explain what's going on. Wouldn't be proper otherwise."

"You were closer than Mewtwo," Ash muttered. "So you got caught in it too."

"That's right," said the older Gym Leader, pausing and nodding down the hall. "Walk with me," she went on, leading the trainers towards a door at the far end of the passage. Moving through it they entered into a large room decorated with marble floors and chandeliers. The huge double doors across the room stood open a little, allowing in flashes of lightning from outside.

"I wonder where everyone's gotten to," muttered Vicki as the trainers crossed the room and stepped through the big doors into the streets of Saffron City's inner circle. Looking around, the redhead could see no one out and about.

Sabrina, still hovering an inch off the ground, glanced around the small square outside Silph's headquarters. "Outside the wall I'd imagine that everyone's either staying home or heading home. Here it's likely that the recent light show has convinced the elite to stay indoors. With any luck the storm will prevent my city from tearing itself apart for lack of power for a few hours."

"About that," said Janine. "Were you going to tell us what you know about what's causing... this?" she pointed upwards. "Maybe concisely?"

"Not interested in my exposition, eh?" the Gym Leader smirked. "Am I boring you?"

"Uh, no, not really," said Janine, a little off balance. "I just didn't know if you were... never mind."

"Please continue," said Ash.

"To be a bit more brief," said Sabrina, walking calmly down the street with Ash and the two girls in tow, "after you ruined the machine in Lavender, I decided that drastic measures were necessary to bring stability back to Saffron. It was my duty as a Gym Leader to maintain order, after all." She paused for a second and held up one hand which began to shed a bright purple glow, providing the only the meaningful illumination for as far as the party could see. "That's better. With a little help from Team Rocket, I tracked down and I caged the creature that's doing this," she nodded upwards, "a nameless thing predating humanity by countless centuries. Team Rocket called it Zapdos, but when I bent all of my power to putting it to sleep and my mind touched its surface thoughts, I immediately knew that no name anyone could give the thing could properly describe its..." she waved her hand as though searching for a word, "essence.

"Simply forcing Zapdos into a sleep deep enough to allow for safely moving it claimed the lives of two of my psychics. Their minds couldn't handle the contact and burned out, but thanks to them, we safely moved Zapdos to the old power plant and began siphoning off its energy. Doing so provided more than enough power to run Saffron twice over, but not without cost. We knew before we began that containing Zapdos for any great length of time would require more than I could provide on my own."

"Hence the machine," said Ash.

"Correct again," said Sabrina. "The timing was perfect. As soon as Zapdos was contained at the power plant, the machine here was complete... a device built solely to amplify my telesthetic power and direct it all towards the plant... and it almost worked." A particularly loud thunderbolt cut her off.

Vicki cleared her throat. "What went wrong?" she asked.

"Apparently the human brain isn't meant to generate super high-amplitude beta and gamma waves for long stints," said Sabrina with a grin. "Trying to force it to do so tends to reduce a perfectly healthy brain to pudding and that is exactly the trouble in which I found myself. Even semi-comatose, I could feel myself dying, but I couldn't really do anything about it... being completely helpless and all that. I could reach out subconsciously and touch the dreams of people with innate psychic gifts, but never with any meaningful effect. Luckily for me, along came," she turned to Ash with a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, "our good friend, with promises of freeing me if I helped him. And here we are," she said with a kind of finality as the group rounded a corner. "I see no one came out to greet us."

Casting about, Ash spotted the building at which Sabrina was looking, a squat structure, at least compared to the surrounding skyscrapers, with only three floors and not a single window to be seen. Taking a breath, Ash followed as Sabrina lead them forward. The eldest Gym Leader walked casually up to the door, ignoring the sound as a massive thunderbolt boomed overhead and shook the ground, and banged her fist on the metal door. A few seconds passed and Sabrina knocked again.

"Hm?" Ash toned, turning around as Janine tapped his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to know what you're thinking," she said, "about where we'll go next, I mean."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be going back to Fuchsia after you were done here," he said.

"Well," the girl stammered, "that was one possibility... I suppose. I was thinking I might," she trailed off for a second.

Ash blinked, his eyes still adjusting to the soft purple light radiating from the psychic. "You might?" he prompted.

"If you're going somewhere else I might follow-" Janine started, only to be cut short by the earsplitting groan of metal on metal.

Both trainers turned back to the unassuming front entrance to the Saffron Gym, where Sabrina had extended her hand towards the heavy metal door that slowly opened on grating rollers as if moved by an invisible force. A single purple spark leapt between the psychic's hand and the door and the slab of metal rocketed over to one side and slammed into its slot, leaving the door wide open. The eldest Gym Leader drew in a breath and balled one hand into a loose fist.

"I guess that means the Gym's without power," said Sabrina. "So the generators are burned out. Perfect. I wonder what else will be wrong." She turned to the rest of the party. "Shall we?"

Ash glanced at Janine. They briefly exchanged looks of caution, but followed Sabrina and Vicki into the unlit interior of the Gym.

SC

Sirens wailing, people screaming orders, and the sounds of massive fires all filled the night as the tall man wearing a white lab coat and thin glasses stepped out of his tent. He could see the pillars of smoke rising out of the opposite end of the camp and the glow from the fires illuminated even his corner of the camp, and the smell of smoke and turned up dirt filled his nostrils.

"Hm," he muttered, reaching up and adjusting his glasses with one finger. "Good thing I decided not to sleep in the command center."

"Professor Elm!" someone shouted, the high voice piercing through the surrounding ruckus.

Elm turned, one hand on his waist as a girl in Johto's dark fatigues ran to his side, stopping and resting her hands on her knees.

"Professor," she gasped, long brown hair clinging to a sweat drenched forehead, "thank goodness you're alright. When I heard we were under attack by the Cinnabareans, I feared the worst. Command thinks that more raids are coming and they're recalling the airborne troopers. We should get to-"

"Calm yourself," said Elm, turning and surveying the surrounding tents before looking up into the sky. "If the Cinnabareans had more to hit us with they'd have dropped it all at once while we weren't ready, or more waves would have come by now. This was likely a distraction, and if command is recalling the fliers then I'd hazard to say it worked. We're in no immediate danger but thank you for your concern, May."

"I was just worried," May answered, straightening up and anxiously fiddling with the pokeballs on her belt as her blue eyes darted this way and that, searching for danger.

Elm smiled reassuringly and patted her on the head, despite her moving away from the gesture. "You need to stay focused," he said, turning and walking towards the perimeter of the camp, motioning for her to follow. "Our dear, dear friend will no doubt be arriving soon, I'd say in no more than three weeks, and when he does we'll have to be at our best if we want to stand a chance."

May nodded and followed after him, beginning to leave the noise behind them. "Professor," she said. "Shouldn't we go help the troops put out the fires? They probably can't do it by themselves."

"Leave the common work to the common soldiers," answered the professor, coming upon a crude bunker, little more than a large foxhole with a camouflaged metal roof. He walked down the few stairs into the unoccupied shelter, turned a knob on a little lamp, and stretched as warm but subdued lantern light provided just enough illumination by which to see. "Sit, sit," he gestured to one of the two chairs in the little bunker. "No sense in standing around."

May glanced over her shoulder, back at the camp where she could still hear fires burning and people shouting. With a sigh she knocked a pokeball from her belt and stepped down the stairs as it snapped open and flooded the ground in white light. A hulking Venusaur materialized out of the light with a low growl and turned around to look for its trainer.

"Keep an eye out for trouble," May put one hand on the Venusaur's face before retreating into the bunker and sitting opposite Elm at a little table. Quickly straightening out her clothes, she brushed the dust from her fatigues and leaned back in the chair with a sour look on her face.

"What's on your mind?" asked Elm. "You look troubled."

May shook her head. "I'd just rather be in the air," she said, "or helping the patrols or helping to get the fires under control; something other than sitting around. We've been doing way to much of that the last few days."

"Your time will come," said the professor. "Oak no doubt saw the Red Gyarados on the news and he knows I'm here. It's only a matter of time until he shows his face and you can get your revenge. And after that," he stopped as May's expression shifted from sour to downright murderous. Her eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched, and the tendons of her hands bulged as she clenched her fists. "After that we'll just have to see what happens."

May took a deep breath and let it out, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I want to see the look on his face when I kill him," she said. "When Oak arrives, he's mine."

Sitting quietly for a moment and suppressing a grin as May stewed, Elm crossed his arms. "Your parents and Birch," he said at length, "I know I've said it, but they were good people and Hoenn is less without them."

"Don't talk about them, please," May growled, clenching her fists even tighter as her voice shook and her blue eyes sparked in the light. "I'll avenge my parents, I'll avenge my little brother, and I'll avenge Professor Birch. That's that." She looked up at Elm, face softening a little. "I can't thank you enough for helping me so much," she said. "Thank you again. Thank you"

Elm held up a hand to stop her. "Think nothing of it," he said. "You're not the only one Oak has wronged, after all."

May looked down at the ground and relaxed a little. "You never did tell me why the two of you hated each other so much," she said.

Elm shrugged. "You never really asked... Suffice to say that on top of his astounding lack of vision and monumental arrogance, someone very dear to me is dead on his account. I'd see justice done."

Nodding and still focusing on an unremarkable patch of dirt beneath the table before her, May nodded. "Justice," she said. "I can't wait."

SC

"Sabrina, ma'am," the young man in the unassuming brown robes stammered. "You're back! Everyone!" he shouted, an uneasy, if genuine, grin on his face as he turned around. "Sabrina is back!"

Leaning to the side just a little, still standing in the dark hall, Ash looked around Sabrina and into the room on the other side of the heavily reinforced door. Inside he could make out a room very similar in appearance to the Silph laboratory he'd just departed. Tables, lab equipment, cots, and desks were set up around the large floorspace, with all of the furniture and beeping devices arranged in rough circles around the central table. In the middle of the room there sat a large circular table piled high with paper, writing utensils, maps, and HAM radios.

As perhaps a dozen people, all arrayed in simple lavender or brown robes got up from the cots, or turned from the tables and desks around which they stood, Ash noticed that all around the room, on benches, on tables, and even on the floor, sat shallow silver bowls and pitchers of water. This in and of itself wouldn't have struck him as odd if not for there being far more bowls and pitchers than there were people in the room.

Stepping over the threshold, Sabrina glanced about the room. A single floodlight, powered by a noisy generator in the corner, provided the only illumination to be had. The senior psychic put her hands on her hips as Ash, Janine, and Vicki all stepped up behind her.

"You could all at least try to look busy," Sabrina called, one corner of her lip twitching up as her subordinates gathered around in the Gym's basement. "I could do with a report. Where's Lorenzo?" she cast about, spotting a shorter figure in lavender attire standing near the back of the group. "You've been keeping up on events while I was away?" she addressed the man. "What's happened here? Why are you all in the bunker?"

Clearing his throat, Lorenzo, a shorter man with less than remarkable features, stepped forward. "I ordered everyone down here when the electrical systems went haywire forty minutes ago," he said calmly. "The whole city's grid fried and went down during that weird storm so I decided it would be safest to institute a lockdown. You caught us right in the middle of relocating actually. Now that you're here, I assume it means Zapdos has escaped?"

Sabrina nodded. "Correct," she answered. "But the storm is abating, which means the creature is, thankfully, not headed this direction." She turned around and addressed Ash. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, I need to get a quick report on what's been going on recently. I'll try to be brief," she smiled a little. "Please, try to make yourselves," she looked between the three other trainers, "as comfortable as you can."

Ash nodded and looked to Janine and Vicki, both of whom had entered the room and stepped up behind him while Sabrina turned back to her psychics. Janine more than either of her companions shifted about and kept looking around from place to place in the poorly lit room.

"Well," said Ash, glancing back at the collection of cots as Sabrina began questioning the psychics, "I guess we might as well relax while we can."

"Good idea," Vicki muttered, walking without any hesitation over to one of the cots, promptly flopping down on it, and resting her chin on the pillow. "God it's been a long day..."

Ash and Janine both followed behind her, the two of them electing to sit on the floor beside one of the cots and lean up against a wall. Almost in unison they sighed and leaned their heads back against the cold concrete walls. Ash, his frame growing suddenly heavy, caught his vision beginning to blur and his muscles aching as they refused to relax. The young trainer took another deep breath and sank a little lower, letting his hands rest on the ground at his sides.

"I can barely keep my eyes open," he muttered, lacking the energy to even twitch in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You should probably rest," Janine said, giving Ash's arm a reassuring pat. "You're no good to anyone half-dead."

Shaking his head a little, Ash glanced across the room where Sabrina had engaged herself in a rapid fire bout of questions and answers with her subordinates. "I need to stay up in case something happens," he said, each word a little quieter than the last.

"Nope," said the girl, standing up and grabbing Ash by the arm. "This is one thing you don't have a say in. C'mon, get up for just a second."

"Would you be serious for a second," Ash complained, though he didn't resist and got to his feet. "This is important," he said as Janine moved him to a cot and made him sit him down on it.

"I promise I'll wake you if anything important happens," Janine said as Ash laid back and dropped his head on the pillow.

"Alright, fine," muttered the young Gym Leader. "Maybe for just a minute or-" he trailed off. A minute later his eyes were closed and his breathing had completely leveled off.

Still laying on her stomach and barely turning her head to look, Vicki watched as Janine knelt by the foot of Ash's cot. "Poor guy," she muttered. "Y'know his file from Fuchsia said that he lost his mom when Pallet burned. His whole life's been pretty much spiraling down since then, yeah?"

Janine didn't answer for a second. Rather she loosened a very unconscious Ash's boots and pulled them from his feet, setting them down on the floor with a quiet thud. "Yeah," the girl answered after another moment. "He just keeps going though."

"That might not be a good thing," said Vicki. "Determination is great and all, right up until the point that it gets someone killed, or hurt, or both."

"What are you saying?" asked Janine, looking at her old friend.

"Nothing Vicki answered, closing her eyes and yawning. "Nothing at all."

Janine sighed as her friend closed her eyes and began breathing rhythmically. The girl took off her lab coat, leaving herself in her tank top and harness, and dropping back against the wall. A second later she slid down the cold concrete surface and just sat against the wall, pulling her legs in and sitting quietly. She remained there for a minute, quiet and listening absentmindedly to the conversations on the other side of the room. For a brief moment, the girl in the black tank top closed her eyes and retreated into her own thoughts, trying to simultaneously listen in on the conversations across the room and suppress the primal uneasiness she felt every time her thoughts stumbled across anything about the Gym Leader, Sabrina.

A chill shooting down her spine, Janine's eyes popped open. She cast about the room, immediately spotting Sabrina directly across the room from where she sat. The elder Gym Leader still seemed to be talking with her subordinates, but had turned just enough to glance at Janine from the corner of her purple eye. Janine stared straight ahead, her mind again going blank as the sensation of fingers running over her forehead overtook the girl from Fuchsia's mind. For what felt like only a split second, Janine couldn't control her thoughts. Random and chaotic images, every one of them a memory of her life flying through her head, Janine went rigid. A near perfect portrait of her life flew before her eyes, and then she snapped to as Sabrina turned back to the other Gym Members.

"Huh?" Janine muttered, confused. "What the hell?"

_I'm not your enemy here,_ the words echoed in Janine's mind.

The girl instantly rolled to her feet, eyes darting around for the source of the voice as one hand balled into a fist and her other went to the pokeballs at her belt. "Who said that?" she hissed. Glancing forward, Janine spotted that Sabrina had again turned to look at her, though the psychic still spoke with her gym's other members.

_Our causes are not opposed to one another,_ the words again echoed in Janine's mind, completely independent of her ears. _You don't need to be so hostile..._

Eyes going wide, Janine stepped back and pressed her back to the wall. "Stay out of my head," she growled. "Or I'll show you how hostile I can be."

_As you wish,_ _I meant you neither harm nor offense, _the voice trailed off.

Janine took several steadying breaths as Sabrina continued her conversations. More than a minute passed until the girl in the tank top relaxed enough for her arms to stop shaking. After another few seconds, she sidestepped, still facing Sabrina's back, and sat on the cot next to Ash's. She set her back to the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, but otherwise remained alert, staring across the room.

SC

Head still fuzzy with sleep, Ash rose from his cot and stretched, scratching his head and arching his back with a groan. He glanced around and immediately remembered falling asleep in the bunker. Looking for his companions the young Gym Leader sat up straighter and spotted Janine and Vicki, both asleep on cots adjacent to his own. After a second glance around the room, Ash noticed that several figures in robes, perhaps half as many as he saw before falling asleep, remained in the bunker where they sat alone and staring into the silver water bowls as intently as if they were reading a book.

"Ah, good you're awake," said an unfamiliar voice.

Ash turned as one of the psychics in a purple robe stepped up next to his cot. "Yep," Ash muttered, still dazed with fatigue. He reached down to the floor, looking to find Pikachu and pick the Pokemon up, but stopping short when his thoughts flashed to the battle at Silph Company. Ash bit the inside of his cheek and shook his head, determined to shift his thoughts elsewhere.

The young man in the robe, Lorenzo if Ash remembered correctly, cleared his throat and crossed his arms behind his back. "Sabrina requested I send you to her as soon as you awoke."

"What time is it?" Ash asked, absentmindedly scratching his jaw and deciding not to bother shaving what was now closer to being a beard than unchecked stubble.

"Seven," said the man, the rumbling of the generator powering the room droning in the background.

"A.M.?" Ash blinked, surprised. "I slept all night?"

"Sabrina requested we not wake you or your friends," Lorenzo stated flatly. "Of all of us, she said, you need your strength the most"

Shaking his head, Ash rolled out of the cot and put his feet on the floor, recoiling at the cold and suddenly realizing he didn't remember removing his boots. "Alright," he said, spotting his boots and picking them up. "Where's she at?"

"Bathing," said Lorenzo, turning just a little and pointing down the hall on the opposite side of the bunker from which Ash had entered. "Down there, second door on the left. I'd advise against wasting time."

"Ok," Ash tightened his boot's laces and stood up. "Guess I should-" he paused halfway through his stretch and looked at the gym member. "Wait, if she's taking a bath, shouldn't I wait?"

Lorenzo grimaced. "For what reason?" he asked.

"Well," said Ash, "bathing implies she'd be taking a bath."

"Yes," said the psychic, his tone growing more patronizing. "It does carry that connotation. I miss your meaning, I'm afraid."

"Well," Ash stammered, rolling his hand through the air as he searched for how to word his next statement. "Wouldn't she be naked?"

"I still," Lorenzo began, stopping short and raising one eyebrow as realization dawned on him. "Ah, yes, I forgot you might have some reservations about that. A word of clarification," the psychic let a friendly grin slip across his lips. "Psychics in general, being able to read minds without meaning to, tend to lack certain compunctions and place the efficient use of time above modesty. Don't worry, you won't offend her."

Ash swallowed a lump in his throat as Lorenzo turned and went back to the cluster of gym members standing around the table in the center of the room.

"Well," said the younger Gym Leader. "Whatever works, I guess," he straightened out his clothes as much as he could, then walked to the hall and knocked on the second door to his left. He flinched just a little when someone called for him to come in.

"Heard you wanted to talk to me," said Ash, pulling the door open and stepping inside. Glancing around the large bathroom, Ash spotted the figure knelt by the tub on the other end of the room.

Wrapped in a towel and glancing at Ash, Sabrina nodded and reached for the small bucket of water sitting by the tub. "Yes, I'm glad you're awake," she said, picking up the bucket with both hands, leaning further over the tub. "You slept well, I assume?"

"Enough," Ash shrugged, "given the circumstances."

Ash jumped at the sound of a loud click, turning and spotting that the bathroom door had pulled itself shut under its own weight. He took a quick breath and looked back to Sabrina, now noting the dim light of the candles that sat on the rack above the tub and filling the room with the pleasant smell of flowers.

"Apologies for the lack of certain luxuries," said the psychic. She paused and slowly poured most of the contents of the bucket over her head to wash the soap from her hair. After taking a second to wring out her hair, the psychic reached out for a bar of soap and began lathering up her hands. "Running water, proper lighting, and warm accommodations are hard to come by in a bunker with barely enough electricity to keep the ventilation working, but I'm sure you've dealt with worse."

"Viridian Forest, Mt. Moon," Ash said, numbering off the locations on his fingers. "The wilds north of Cerulean, the Lavender, oh, and," he smirked, "perhaps most harrowing of all: putting up with Erika."

Sabrina laughed once and started spreading the soap up her arms and rubbing it over her shoulders and collar. "Well it's good to see your sense of humor remains intact." the psychic took a ladle from inside the tub and began rinsing herself of the bubbles. "I thought about waking you once I was finished catching up on recent events but decided you would need your rest, especially since I've already divined how you'll react to what I'm going to tell you... now that you're awake however, it's time I fulfilled my end of the bargain."

"Whenever you're ready," said Ash, glancing at the chair in the corner of the room, pulling it to where he stood, and sitting down.

"Saffron," said Sabrina, standing up, and then sitting on the edge of the tub, "for all of its faults, is my everything. I'm married to this city and I will have no higher priority than its safety until the day I die. Needless to say, recent events and my well-intentioned role in them have weighed heavily on me, and I hope that you, as a fellow Gym Leader, a man once responsible for the well being of his own people, can understand my decisions."

"I'm not going to judge you," said Ash. "That's not why I'm here. I just want to know what my next step should be."

"Right," said the psychic. "It's a little odd..." she stopped and chuckled. "Alright, it's disconcerting beyond belief to hear someone say that without hearing their thoughts confirming or denying the words of their mouth. It's a good thing, refreshing and different, but extremely weird... At any rate, the next phase of Mewtwo's plan is for you to go to Cinnabar Island with two goals in mind. Your main priority is to rescue Blaine Katsura and get him to safety. Second, you need to kill Professor Elm and at the very least disable his Red Gyarados."

A single shiver disturbing his otherwise perfect composure, Ash swallowed the lump in his throat. "Alright," he said, unconsciously balling his hands into fists. "I'd be more than happy to take care of that last part."

"Yes, but are you prepared to work with Team Rocket to do it?" asked Sabrina, any semblance of a smile fading from her face as she folded her hands in her lap.

Ash felt bile well up in the back of his mouth, but he fought the sudden urge to spit. "Why would I even think of doing that?" he asked, more than a flavor of venom in his tone.

"Rocket's sent a peacekeeping force to the island," said Sabrina. "Originally their stated mission was to protect Indigo Plateau's Embassy, also known as Blaine's Gym, when in all reality their goal was to evacuate Blaine and get as much of his research to safety as possible. Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, depending on your view, they were delayed by bad weather and the peacekeepers were caught in the gym, on the northern extreme of the island and far from help, when the Johtan army arrived. They've entrenched themselves in the gym and its numerous laboratories but they can't hold out forever... they need help."

"Well maybe they can kiss my ass," Ash growled. "If Team Rocket is so fond of Blaine then why would Mewtwo want to protect him?"

"He has his reasons, not the least of which being Blaine's work on an agricultural project to rebuild and increase the output of the plantations west of Viridian City... the plantations on which a great deal of Kanto was reliant, the plantations that Elm destroyed in much the same fashion that he destroyed Pallet Town."

"No," Ash shook his head. "Team Rocket was behind both of those attacks."

"Says who?" asked the psychic, shifting on the edge of the tub. "Both of those attacks were perpetrated solely by Professor Elm and his minions in an effort to kill your grandfather and get back at the Elite Four for perceived wrongs. If you don't believe me you can ask Oak yourself when you meet him. Within the right circles, the shadow-wars the various professors fought amongst each other were legendary."

Ash stood up and took a step back, firmly planting his side against the wall. "Assuming I buy that," he said, "What does Mewtwo stand to gain by rescuing Blaine and killing Elm?"

"Blaine is an absolutely brilliant scientist and a master of just about every field of study with a name," said Sabrina. "He also has close personal ties to Mewtwo. The two of them were friends for a long time and Mewtwo hopes to exploit that link to convince Blaine to turn his efforts to restoring some of Kanto's agricultural capacity. Killing Elm would simply be best for Kanto, and Johto for that matter, in general. Without his constant scheming for revenge and glory, things in both regions might settle down some."

Ash thought for a second, crossing his arms and scratching at the stubble on his chin. "What are the odds I could rescue Blaine without helping Team Rocket?" he asked.

"Virtually zero," said Sabrina. "Blaine and the peacekeepers are both fighting for their lives and getting to them would entail fighting your way through the Johtans trying to kill them. Either all of them escape, or none of them do." Sabrina paused as Ash's face hardened with the thoughts playing behind his features. "They're not all evil, you know," she said after a moment, continuing when Ash looked up at her. "Not everyone in Team Rocket is a raving monster... most of them are pretty decent people just trying to make a difference-"

"By making my life a living hell!" Ash shouted, breaking in. "I've spent almost two years just trying to survive because of them! Because of this Giovanni, who courtesy of you I now know is my father, I've been living in constant fear, never knowing when the next ambush will come or when it's safe to sleep, or what tomorrow might bring. Everyone I had left is dead or gone because of them!"

"You didn't make any particular effort to stay out of their way," Sabrina noted, as poised as ever. "From what I understand, you made your intent to fight them clear long before they actually attacked you. In fact, you began moving against Team Rocket after they tried to peacefully recruit you. If you're referring to Misty being gone, then again, if memory serves, there was nothing preventing you from simply walking away from the Battle of Celadon."

Ash's eyes opened wider and he began to realize his face was growing red. "How did you know about that?" he growled, hands shaking. "Who told you?"

"One of my psychics was scrying on the battle and the events leading up to it," said Sabrina. "She told me of yours and Brock's insistence on fighting when Misty just wanted to leave."

"Don't mention her again," Ash began trembling. He thought he could feel hot streaks beginning to run down his face. "Don't you say her name again. You have no idea what we went through to get this far. You have no idea how many people have been hurt so far, just trying to stop Team Rocket."

Sabrina got to her feet and lifted one hand to hold her towel in place. "Stop them from what, Ash? Stop them from what?" her tone grew almost cold and Ash backed even more firmly against the wall. "Do you want to stop them from handing out free food to the needy? Or is it Team Rocket's efforts to protect Blaine, a good man, from the hatred of a crazed killed like Elm with which you take issue? When have they done you wrong, Ash, without your first inciting them with your attacks against their people?"

"Shut up," Ash hissed. "You were working for them. You were one of them," he growled, "and you still are. You're just trying to slow me down, shake my resolve. Well it's not going to work," he pointed a finger at her. "You're never going to stop me."

Ash froze as Sabrina walked forward. Her eyes locked on his, the young trainer could only go rigid as she raised a hand, anticipation of pain lancing through his face. He grimaced and squinted his eyes shut, waiting for some attack, but none came. He felt a gentle touch on his cheek and opened his eyes. Sabrina stood less than a pace from him, her hand resting on his cheek and her expression so saddened that Ash couldn't help but feel his heart sink into his stomach at the same time he felt it begin to thrum with a furious tempo. The fact that a woman who's natural beauty shamed anyone he knew stood before him in nothing but a towel remained at the back of Ash's mind.

"No," the psychic shook her head. "All I'm trying to do is make you see the people." She kept looking into his eyes. "Team Rocket has a dark side, yes, absolutely. But there's good there too. Maybe not in everything they do, but there are good people working for that bad organization... Ash, you're not cruel, and you're not cold, and it would be a tragedy to see you become either one. But I feel there's so much hatred in your heart... I don't have to be psychic to see that you're overflowing with anger, or to tell you that nothing good will come of such things."

Ash let out a curt breath before sucking in another. He felt stinging tears rolling down his hot face now. Images of his mother, of Misty, and of Pikachu rioted before his eyes. "I could have revenge," he said, voice shaking. "I could get back at them for everything they've taken from me."

"And then what?" Sabrina asked, her words gentle as she ran the backs of her fingers down his face. "You get back at them, then whoever you leave alive will have cause to hate you and they'll seek their own revenge and the cycle will start again... revenge is a venomous thing," she said. "And I would hate to see a soul as noble as yours succumb to it."

"Why are you saying this?" Ash asked, closing his eyes. "I don't want to hear it."

"You need to hear it," said the psychic. "It's a shame no one said it to you earlier... Besides," Sabrina grinned just a little, "it's best to hear it from someone who genuinely respects you and only wants what's best for everyone." She stepped even closer and, much to Ash's surprise, kissed him on the cheek. "Save the peacekeepers," she said, words still soft. "Every one of them is someone's son or daughter. They all have people who love them: just like you and me."

Ash stopped and took a deep breath. "What about the Johtans?" he asked. "I'd have to fight my way through them wouldn't I?"

Sabrina's smile faded. "That's the tragic part, in my mind, and it's the tragedy of the situation." She stepped back and looked between Ash and the door. "Unfortunately they've allied themselves against the people we need to protect. It's sad, but you'll probably have to kill many of them to get to Blaine... or," she paused, "you could simply leave and go seek peace elsewhere. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's an option."

Ash shook his head and took a final steadying breath. "No, no it isn't... I've come too far to back down but... I guess I'll just have to fight a little longer. I'll go and rescue Blaine," he said, looking Sabrina in the eye. "I'll make Elm answer for his crimes, and... I'll take care of the peacekeepers if I can."

Smile growing wider, Sabrina nodded her approval. "You're a good person, Ash Ketchum. Now, a few minor ideas to kick around. First, the ruins of Pallet Town, where Oak is rebuilding his lab are right between here and Cinnabar. You might be able to convince your grandfather to join you and provide some extra firepower."

"Right," Ash shifted around a little. "That's a good idea."

"Also, Team Rocket and the Cinnabareans might not have have any love for each other, but they both detest Elm with a passion. With a little effort you might be able to convince the Cinnabareans to help you get to Blaine's Gym. I'd try o find a Captain Zvika, if you could, and try to convince him to devote his 'Dragon Company' to your effort."

"Another good idea," said Ash. "When should I leave?"

Sabrina shrugged. "It likely wouldn't matter if you took the rest of today to recover. You could depart for Pallet in the morning and from there it wouldn't be more than a week before you reached Cinnabar."

"Actually," said Ash, pausing and dropping his arms. "I think I'll stop by Pewter first... try to make amends with Brock for being such an ass back in Celadon."

"A noble idea," said Sabrina. "If you flew the whole way it wouldn't add more than a day to your trip."

"I'll do that," Ash said. "And Sabrina," he turned back to the psychic. "Thank you... even if I... just thank you."

Sabrina smiled. "It's what I do," she said. "Now, unless you had something else you wanted to say, I should probably finish cleaning up so I can get back to work. Keeping Saffron under control isn't going to be easy."

"Oh, excuse me," said Ash, running his sleeve across his eye. "I'll get out of your way." As he turned away, a thin grin flitted over Ash's features. _I'd be more than willing to_, he thought, choosing his words with surgical precision and intent, _take care of the peacekeepers... _A chilling laugh echoed inside his head, alerting Ash to Haunter's having heard his thoughts over their link.

Grabbing the door's handle, Ash stepped out into the hall and closed the bathroom door behind him. Turning around the young trainer nearly jumped as Janine darted quickly out of his path and he nearly fell over trying not to run into her. Stumbling and stammering, Ash caught himself on the wall and Janine quickly stepped up beside him to help steady his balance.

"Sorry about that," said the girl in the tank top. "I didn't expect you to come walking out of the bathroom, where Sabrina was taking a bath, naked, in the same room as you, for twenty minutes." She looked up at him, chagrin plain on her face.

"Huh?" Ash blinked. "I don't follow. Oh!" he stuttered, seeing her point. "Um, yeah that probably didn't look to good, did it?"

"Care to explain?" said Janine, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg. "I heard shouting."

"Oh god no," Ash held up his hands.

"Yeah," said the girl. "Something like that."

"Would you let me explain," Ash glared at her. "We were just talking. Sabrina was bringing me up to speed, and I heard a few things I didn't really want to and I got a little emotional. That's all. Apparently psychics have no idea what modesty or privacy are about and she just wanted to be efficient with her time."

Raising an eyebrow, Janine uncrossed her arms. "Well, whatever. I'll let it slide for now."

"Tell you what," Ash sighed. "I'm going to go scrounge for some breakfast. Anything you'd like me to bring you? Maybe we can have breakfast together."

Janine's eyes lit up a little. "OK, sure," she chirped. "Just whatever you find will work great."

Waiting until Ash had left the hallway and asked one of the psychics on the opposite side of the room about a kitchen, Janine sighed and popped her neck, so flustered that she didn't see Vicki stepping up behind her. The second woman, red hair frizzy from sleep, wore a remarkably feline grin on her lips as she stepped up behind Janine.

"He smells like scented candles," Vicki purred.

"Shut up!" Janine whirled on her.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – A Flicker of the Past

"Ash!" Janine yelped, squeezing her hands tight and clutching at the young man's waist. "Go slow, go slow please. I've-" a quick and heavy breath cut her short as her whole frame shook. "I've never done this before." She squeezed her eyes closed so tightly it hurt, her head already fuzzy with the rush of sensations as the rest of her body throbbed and ached.

Ash couldn't hold back a small grin, his blood pulsing with the thrill he'd missed for some time. Every breath he took pushed the stress of the previous weeks farther from his mind. He steadied himself and patted Janine's knee.

"Come on now," he said. "Open your eyes. You're going to have to get used to this."

Hesitantly cracking one eye open, Janine lifted her face from Ash's back and looked out over the tops of the clouds, so close she could have reached down from Pidgeot's back and touched them. The cold wind blew hard in her face, whipping her hair all around and making it impossible to see clearly. The sting of the dry air bit into her knuckles and again the girl closed her eyes.

"How long do we have to do this?" she asked, burying her face Ash's back and squeezing him even tighter.

"Until you can ride on your own," Ash shouted over the wind, looking back at his passenger and guiding Pidgeot with his knees to bank gently left and towards the ground. "Now open your eyes. It's completely safe."

A second time, Janine opened just one eye, but this time watched as the clouds slowly rose up over her. "You promised I wouldn't fall off!" she shouted, barely able to hear herself over her heart.

Ash smirked. "And you won't! You're strapped in tight as can be!"

Glancing at her legs, Janine mentally assessed the straps holding her in the saddle, trying to determine whether or not they were strong enough to hold her in the event of a sudden updraft or change in direction. Then she remembered that the saddle only had one set of straps, and that she wore them.

"You're not tied in!" the girl shrieked, wrapping her arms around Ash's chest and grabbing onto his collar with both hands.

Ash laughed for a second, his whole body feeling light as a broad smile overtook his features. "With a grip like yours," he chuckled, aiming Pidgeot towards the ground at a gentle angle, "I don't think it matters."

Wings flapping open to bring her to an easy stop a few dozen feet above the ground, Pidgeot dropped to the grassy field outside Saffron and trotted to a stop. Her crest floating out beside her in the breeze, the massive bird stooped a little as Ash jumped down from her back. The trainer nimbly undid the restraints holding Janine in the saddle and offered her a hand down.

"Ash Ketchum," said the girl, obviously trying to look angry but unable not to grin as she took his hand and stepped to the ground on wobbling legs, "you're horrible."

Pausing for just a second, Ash took a deep breath."Maybe just a little," he said with a grin, well aware that he had yet to let go of Janine's hand. "Good job though, for your first time flying I mean. We'll have you riding solo before you know it."

Blushing, the girl in the hoodie looked away and across the small clearing. Sitting lazily under a tree, Arcanine looked up and between the pair of humans, then glanced over his shoulder to Oz. Just inside the treeline, Ash's Munchlax had some time ago set to work devouring the undergrowth and any small animals he found hiding low in the trees. Already the ravenous Pokemon had cleared an area the size of a small barn of any plant life taller than grass and stripped the low hanging branches of any bugs or bird's nests.

"Is it just me," Janine nodded to the Munchlax, "or has he gotten bigger in the last day or two?"

"Probably, yeah," Ash shrugged. "He's definitely bigger than he was at Silph." The young trainer grinned. "Actually, now that you mention it, he's a good two or three inches taller."

One ear perking up a little, Oz turned and looked over its shoulder at the two trainers. The Pokemon stared at them for a second, before its stomach growled, prompting him to return to feasting on the undergrowth. Knowing Arcanine kept a vigilant watch, Ash sighed and sat down, leaning against Pidgeot as the massive bird nested down in the grass.

"I remember days like this back on the frontier," Ash took a deep breath and glanced up at the lightly clouded sky, "quiet, laid-back." He stretched his legs out on the grass as Pidgeot cooed behind him. "There was this little forest just outside Pallet... my mom would always tell me not to go there because of the wild Pokemon." He smirked. "And of course I'd always sneak out anyway, since there was a little pond where grandpa would take Aisha and I swimming, and I liked to have it to myself. Those were good times."

Sitting in the grass beside him, Janine stretched out and scanned the perimeter of the clearing. "So you were suicidal even before I met you."

"A proper lunatic," said Ash. "I was always getting into trouble. One time I just about got my arm taken off by a Rattata because I was exploring Route 1 and walked right into its nest. I'd have been dinner if my grandpa hadn't seen me sneak out and decided to follow me. So," he turned to Janine, "what was it like growing up in a Gym?"

"What do you mean?" asked the girl, looking over and up at him.

"Well you had to know you'd be taking over the Gym from your dad one day," said Ash. "How did you handle that kind of responsibility."

Hesitating for a second, Janine looked straight ahead. "It never seemed to matter too much... There weren't too many kids in the gym when I was little, and we spent most of our time learning from the adults anyway so it never came up." She paused, slumped to her right, and dropped her head onto Ash's shoulder. "Six hours every day in home school, six more in physical training, two in combat training," she said when Ash didn't shrug away. "Add in eight for sleeping and that didn't leave much time for anything like a social life."

"That sounds rough," Ash muttered.

"It was all we knew," Janine shrugged. "And it was fun in its own way... at least until my mother got sick. After she passed," she took a breath, "Koga started pulling farther away until he was hardly at the gym at all and communicated almost exclusively through messages. I guess now I know why."

"How do you think they're doing back there?" asked Ash.

"The Gym?" Janine blinked.

"Yeah," said the other trainer, absentmindedly watching Oz munch on a low-hanging tree limb.

Janine sighed. "They've got their orders," she said. "But I think I'm going to send Vicki back anyway... keep honest people honest."

"Honest ninjas?" Ash smirked.

"Hey, 'sneaky' doesn't mean 'dishonest,' you jerk," said the girl in the hoodie. "I've been pretty straightforward with you."

"True," Ash mumbled, he started standing, giving Janine enough time to move her head before he got to his feet. "Come on," he said, offering her a hand up. "Breaks over, time to fly."

Janine gulped, but accepted the hand up.

Twice more that afternoon the two trainers took to the sky, each time going a little higher and remaining aloft a little longer before returning to the ground. On each break the trainers saw that Oz had begun clearing away sections of the forest at an accelerated rate, leading both to speculate that the Pokemon might be growing into a Snorlax right before their eyes. Janine expressed no small amount of concern at the idea, but the notion further added to Ash's growing satisfaction with the day.

By the time they began breaking down their rudimentary camp, the sun had dipped almost to the horizon and settled behind the stark skyline of Saffron City. In places, plumes of smoke from the fires caused by the massive electrical storm two days prior still rose into the sky. Strapping Janine into Pidgeot's saddle and climbing up behind her, Ash returned Arcanine and the Munchlax to their pokeballs before tapping the bird with his heels. Pidgeot's wings snapped open and downwards and she and her passengers shot up into the orange sky.

"How do you get used to that?" Janine huffed once the turning in her stomach had settled.

"You learn to love it," said the other trainer holding the bird's stubby reins and angling her towards the city. "My god," Ash muttered a moment later. "Look at that."

Janine looked down just as they flew over the massive wall separating the inner and outer rings of Saffron. She couldn't help but stare as she caught sight of the enormous groups of people gathered around the inner city's main gate. Standing in the barricaded passage were a dozen or so people in white Team Rocket uniforms, each accepting armfuls of water bottles from a supply train men with boxes of the bottles, and turning to distribute them amongst the crowd of people. Several figures in lavender robes stood atop the wall watching over the proceedings.

"I guess no power means no running water," said Ash, thinking back to his conversation with Sabrina.

"Or much of anything else," Janine added, seeing the Team Rocket members below breaking out bags of rice. "I wonder how much of a stockpile Sabrina has to fall back on."

As the crowd pressed closer and closer to the gate, the clusters of people growing so dense as to completely block any view of the ground, Ash and Janine heard someone scream. The sound carried on the wind, immediately followed by a surge of the crowd towards the gate and a cacophonous roar of voices as a fight between the mob and the Team Rocket relief workers. One of the psychics on the wall raised a hand towards the sky and a bolt of purple lightning arced from his fingers high into the air with a clap of thunder. Screams continued to echo in the crowd, though now the people began running away from the gate as Team Rocket's workers began retreating with the supplies.

"What was that all about?" asked Janine.

Ash shrugged. "I'm sure Sabrina will know," he said.

The girl in the hoodie didn't answer, instead just leaning back a little, resting against Ash, and trying to get used to being so high in the air. The pair of trainers began banking steadily downwards and angling towards the roof of the Saffron Gym, the air warming noticeably as they descended and landed on the concrete structures roof. Ash dismounted and undid the straps around Janine's legs, helping her down from the bird as the utility door to the roof opened with a click. Turning and spotting Sabrina stepping out onto the roof, Ash and Janine relaxed a little.

"I saw you coming," said the psychic, smiling a little, though her features seemed strained as she glanced passed Ash and out over Saffron. "Do you both have a moment?"

Ash and Janine glanced at one another before Ash turned back to Sabrina. "Sure," he said. "If you don't mind putting up with us then I don't think we were planning on leaving until tomorrow morning anyway."

"Good," said Sabrina, turning about and reaching up to keep her hair out of her face as a gust of wind blew over the roof. "I want you both well rested, also, I have something for you."

Clearing his throat as he followed Sabrina down from the roof and into the stairwell beyond the utility door, Ash dropped one hand into his pocket. "So you're people are working with Team Rocket," he said, descending the stairs.

"Yes," said the psychic, tone flat. "We've been working in close cooperation, trying to get the power back up and running."

"And how's that going?" asked Ash.

Stopping on a landing, Sabrina stood next to one of the gym's heavy metal doors. A spark of purple leapt between her fingers and the handle and the door slid silently open. "The power surge, to say nothing of the storm, Zapdos caused when it escaped dealt considerable damage to a lot of vital infrastructure," the psychic's countenance fell a little farther as Ash and Janine reached the landing and walked through the door. "The necessary repairs won't come quickly or easily."

"I'll send a letter to Baily, back in Vermilion," said Ash. "It wouldn't take much for him to get a crew up here to help with the repairs if you could send him an escort. It's not like we're hurting for supplies down there."

Sabrina nodded and followed the other trainers into the bunker beneath the gym, her shiny red uniform catching the emergency lighting and flickering . "I would appreciate that very much," she said, "And I'll see about getting Lorenzo to put a team together as soon as we can spare the men. For now though," she paused and stepped into the bunker's central control room where a few of the other psychics stood around the chamber's main table, looking at computer screens and chatting into headsets or fiddling with ham radios.

"I took the liberty," said Sabrina, snapping her fingers, and instantly bringing every eye in the room to herself, "of having some of our less available products brought out for you." She stopped for just a second as one of the other psychics nodded and walked quickly from the room after removing his headset. "It's common knowledge that Saffron has long been the region's leading producer of Technical textiles and industrial composites, but not too many people know the full extent of what we've learned to do with materials ranging from simple as fiberglass to more advanced carbon-fiber sheets."

Ash and Janine turned to the side as the psychic, Lorenzo, Ash noticed, in the lavender robe returned. Pulling behind him a dolly laden with a pair of plain brown boxes, he stopped in front of them. With seemingly very little effort, given the containers' sizes, the man set the boxes on the floor. He slid a glowing purple finger along the tape lining the top of one box and instantly the tape split as though it had been cut by a razor.

"Here we go," said Sabrina, walking forward and pulling the box open, motioning for Ash and Janine to come closer as her subordinate stepped aside. "Have a look."

Ash stooped over the box, reached inside, and with one hand pulled out a thick black helmet. "Body armor?" he asked, looking back into the box and spotting the inky breastplate and pauldrons resting on top of other protective components.

"We call it thermal armor, mark fifty-one beta," Sabrina said, an unmistakable air of pride in her tone, "or T-51b, for short. The pressed fiberglass exoskeleton can easily withstand temperatures of seven hundred degrees and won't soften up until subjected to more than fifteen hundred degrees, while the carbon fiber-reinforced underlay can resist as much as twenty-five kilojoules of kinetic impact without adding unnecessary weight," she smirked. "Even a Charizard would have trouble tearing through this. There's one suit for each of you, and they should be roughly your sizes," Sabrina looked between Ash and Janine.

Opening up the other box, Janine's eyes went a little wide when she picked up the helmet. "It's so light," she muttered.

"The heaviest component is actually the glass eyepiece in the helmet," said Sabrina. "The rest was engineered with weight in mind. Once you get it all on properly, walking around in a volcano's as easy as strolling through a park."

Ash lowered the breastplate a little and glanced at Sabrina. "Why would anyone need to walk around in a Volcano?" he asked. "Who buys this?"

"Well Cinnabar's Special Forces are very fond of them," Sabrina smiled. "Apparently the protection to weight ratio works wonderfully for flying trainers and the insulative properties give the wearer a marked advantage over Pokemon with fire or electrical attacks. I thought since you were headed to Cinnabar that you might as well be dressed for it. You'll also find the Marsh Badge in an envelope, Ash," she pointed to the box.

Stopping for a second, Ash stared into the box and at the little paper envelope. "Sabrina," he muttered, trying to keep his voice low enough to avoid the attention of the other psychics standing around the chamber's central table, "There's something that's been bugging me all day, but I'm not completely sure how to ask about it without being... well, more than a little rude."

Her expression shifting quickly between amused curiosity and a more serious interest, Sabrina took a few steps closer. She glanced over her shoulder at the other psychics, namely Lorenzo who had since gone back to chatting into his headset. Her vibrant purple eye glowing just a little brighter for an instant before fading to its normal brightness, Sabrina turned back to Ash and crossed her arms as Janine felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up a little.

"You won't offend me," Sabrina said, speaking up a little to overcome the noise made by the bunker's generator growing louder. "What's on your mind."

Ash took a breath and dropped his hands into his pockets. "I don't get it," he said. "You've got to know that I'm planning on taking Team Rocket apart by whatever means I can, but even knowing that, you continue to work with them and give me all the support you can muster... why? It's counterproductive."

A wry grin tugged at Sabrina's lip. "You don't understand," she said. "I am on no one's side but my own and I. Am. Saffron," the psychic's tone grew grave, despite her expression. "Team Rocket helps me protect and care for my city, as do you. Therefore, to me, there's no difference between you and them and I won't do for one anything I wouldn't do for the other."

"But that's not true." Ash tried to interrupt, "we're completely-"

"So, if you and Team Rocket are fated to destroy one another," Sabrina cut him off, "tragic as that might be, I won't stop either of you. Neither will I withhold my aid, however. It wouldn't be..." she stopped as though searching for a word, "fair, to either one."

"Fair," Ash muttered. "That's it then? It wouldn't be fair for you stop someone who's completely screwing up the world?"

"They're not mucking up my world," said Sabrina. "Though I can understand why you might blame them for what happened to yours. If your position and theirs were reversed however, I don't doubt that any member of Team Rocket would see it as highly unjust that I help you either," she nodded to him.

"I'm not going to argue about this," he groaned, folding his arms across his chest and trying not to let himself become cynical. "Thank you for the armor," he said.

"You're welcome," the psychic smiled a little to him and inclined her head politely to Janine. "Humble gifts given what you did for me, but I hope you're both well served by them. Now, I should be getting to a meeting with the Rosenberg family across town to discuss how Saffron should proceed."

"Hey," said Janine, looking about the room. "Has anyone seen Vicki?"

Sabrina smirked and cleared her throat once as she turned and began walking from the bunker. "She has been availing herself of my hospitality."

No sooner had Sabrina finished, than a door down the hallway from the bunker's main chamber opened. Out walked Vicki and one of the psychics, a taller man with wide shoulders and curly hair tucked under his lavender hood. Janine raised an eyebrow as Vicki and the psychic parted ways at the door, neither speaking to the other. While the redhead crossed the room and waved to Janine and Ash, the taller man in the robe stepped up next to the table and one of Sabrina's other subordinates.

"Hey guys," Vicki said casually, walking up to the other trainers with a blush lingering on her cheeks. "What's up?"

"Have fun?" asked Janine, spotting the two male psychics at the table fist-bumping.

"Sure did," Vicki winked and elbowed the other girl. "It really is true what they about psychics." She held her hands in a circle and whispered to Ash. "Big as a flipping eggplant."

"Oh god!" Ash's face melted into horror as he turned for the door. "I can't know that!"

Janine turned with a venomous glare to the redhead as Ash left the room. "What the hell was that?" she hissed as Ash walked off.

"What," Vicki straightened out her wrinkled shirt, an intentionally dumb smile on her face. "Go on."

"Ash," Janine whirled out the door. "Hold on a second."

Vicki stood there a moment longer, her eyes narrowing and her lips curving into a feline grin. "Vicki: two... Janine: zero," she whispered, turning around a second later and beginning to whistle.

SC

Giving the heavy buckles a final tug and tightening the leather straps holding Janine in Pidgeot's saddle, Ash ran one final check on the mount and her rider. Satisfied with Janine's job at securing herself to the massive bird, Ash stepped back and patted Pidgeot's neck.

"Not bad," he said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were ready to take off."

Janine straightened up in the saddle, a satisfied grin on her lips as her new armor caught the sunlight. "Told you," she said proudly. "Flying's already second nature, or at least it would be if it weren't so hard."

"Sure thing, you'll get the hang of it," Ash muttered, shifting around, still adjusting to the uncanny ease with which he could move, even encased as he was by Sabrina's armor, Ash crossed the roof of Saffron's Gym to meet one more time with the head psychic. He stopped in front Sabrina, extending his hand and shaking hers.

Clearing her throat, Sabrina looked between the two trainers. "Will you be heading to Pewter then?"

Nodding, Ash tried to put his hands in his pockets, only to remember the armor lacked any such features. "Yes. From there I'll head to Pallet and then Cinnabar City and look for this Captain Zvika character. Thanks again for all your help," Ash went on, stepping back a little as a cool wind blew up and over the roof.

"And thank you for yours," said Sabrina, wiping one strand of hair away from her face and folding her hands behind her back. "If you ever need anything else, I'd be happy to help."

"Likewise," said the young trainer from Pallet. He turned back towards Janine and took a step, before pausing to look over his shoulder, back at Sabrina. "Good luck," he said, grabbing a pokeball from his belt and tossing it to the ground.

As Charizard coalesced from the spray of white light, Sabrina nodded. "Same to you. Take care of yourself Ketchum," she sighed. Her eyes flitting to Janine, who sat with Pidgeot's reins in hand, Sabrina smiled just a little wider than before as her red eye sparked with an almost imperceptibly faint glow.

Ash stepped up to Charizard, putting his hand on the monstrous dragon's neck before swinging one leg over the Pokemon's back and pulling himself up into the saddle. With a final nod to Sabrina, Ash tapped Charizard's sides with his heels.

Grunting and hissing out a line of smoke, Charizard's jaw clenched and his muscles bulged as he leapt into the air, snapped his wings open, and heaved downwards to carry himself aloft. Following Charizard's lead more than Janine's instruction, Pidgeot hopped forward and jumped from the roof of the gym, opening her wings and banking to glide above the street before flapping hard enough to move skywards and come up alongside Ash and Charizard. The massive bird tilted her wings and began flying steadily ten meters to Charizard's left as Janine reached into the bag by her leg, drew out a thin radio, and fixed the earpiece such that she could quickly don her helmet without knocking it away.

"Hearing this?" she said into the mic at her lip, pressing a button on the headset.

"Loud and clear," Ash answered a second later. "How you holding up?"

As the two flying Pokemon shifted their course west and slightly north, gaining enough altitude to clearly make out the layout of Saffron City, the pair of passengers both took a last look at the walled metropolis and its outer slums.

"Not bad," said the girl. "I'm still not too sure about being up so high for so long."

"Oh," Ash exclaimed. "That reminds me... I should probably strap myself in," he said, reaching to his legs as though he were going to adjust the saddle's restraints.

"Ash!" Janine jerked to look at him. "What do you mean you're not!" she stopped, seeing upon a closer look that the leather straps held Ash securely in place and that he only fiddles with the slack.

"Kidding, kidding," Ash's laugh came over the radio. "I'm not quite that dumb."

"Ash Ketchum..." Janine sighed. "You've got to quit that."

"Sorry sorry," said the other trainer. "I'll quit, I promise."

Flying just under the clouds, Ash and Janine went quiet as their mounts carried them over the gradually changing terrain. Less than five hours into the journey, Janine spotted and pointed out the distant structures of Celadon to their left. Even with his keen vision, it took Ash a moment to spot the city, and several minutes more to convince himself that flying could really make for such a quick journey.

"I flew around all the time in Vermillion," Ash told his traveling companion, "and I knew it was faster than walking but I guess I never really knew by how much."

"I'm not going to complain," said the girl. "Why don't more people travel like this?"

"I'd say," said Ash, "that anyone who has the means and the need, already flies wherever they want, wherever they want."

Several more hours rolled by and gradually the steep and sudden hills gave way to more level stretches of forest. More than once Ash drew out the compass Sabrina had given him and checked their course, a task not made easy by the jostling nature of flying. By the time the sun began to set, the two trainers had gone far enough in the direction noted by the compass that both felt they should be very near Pewter.

Low clouds flowing in from the north made flying high enough to survey the ground difficult however, and after another hour had passed, both Ash and Janine were forced to land and bunker down in a small copse of trees for the night as the air filled with the muddy smell of a coming storm. Returning a winded Pidgeot and a griping Charizard to their pokeballs, Ash raised one arm to shield his face as a gust of wind accompanied by a wave of rain clapped down on his from the darkness overhead.

"Really?" muttered the trainer, the precipitation already flowing through the neck of his armor and beginning to fill up the protective shell like a bottle. Glancing around the little grove for Janine, barely able to see anything farther than an arm's length away, Ash spotted the girl kneeling on the grass and digging through her pack. "What're you looking for?" he asked, stepping up beside her.

Pulling a tarp out from the bottom of the bag and spilling some of the other contents in the process, Janine held up the large piece of plastic and let it partially unfurl. "Just think of it as a super-sized poncho," said the girl, unrolling the tarp and holding up one end while motioning for Ash to come under it.

Working from underneath the sheet of heavy plastic, with no small amount of trouble from the wind and rain, the two trainers managed to build a crude lean-to using Janine's tarp and the rope Ash had stored away in his backpack. Once finished, the trainers huddled under the structure on the unused and folded-under portion of the tarp, facing away from the wind and rain.

"Hold on a sec," Ash said as Janine began pulling off her armor. He reached for his belt, grabbed a pokeball and snapped it open, releasing Arcanine into the rough shelter. The massive canine jerked in surprise at its surroundings, but calmed instantly upon seeing Ash. Arcanine met his trainers eye for a split second and, without being ordered, hunkered down and began shifting around the lean-to, absorbing most of the moisture lingering on the tarp floor with his fur. Janine couldn't help but grin at the display as Arcanine finished drying the floor and, happily wagging his tail, settled up next to Ash.

"He really does love you," said Janine, sidling up beside Ash and leaning her back against Arcanine, a gesture to which the canine began wagging his tail a little faster.

"I know," said Ash, turning and running his hand through Arcanine's big mane. "Now that Pikachu's gone," the trainer said, his tone even, "Arcanine's my oldest Pokemon."

"It shows," said the girl. Pausing for a second and staring off into the dark as the surround grew dimmer by the minute, Janine took a deep breath and began pulling off her boots and gauntlets. After a little while the girl in the hoodie could wave her hand in front of her face without seeing it. The only sounds were the rain, Arcanine's relaxed breathing, and the sound of Ash pouring water out of his boot.

"At least we know the armor is sealed up good and tight," Ash chuckled as rainwater came drizzling out of his protective casing through the gap at his ankles.

"Ash," said Janine, piping up quickly, a shiver running down her back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," said the other trainer, instinctively looking to make eye contact with the girl but unable to see her in the dark. "What's up?"

"Do you get the feeling something really big is going to happen?" she asked. "Or is it just me? I'd understand if you said I was getting riled up over nothing, but I just can't shake the idea that... well that big changes are coming."

Again, Ash tried to look for Janine, not sure how to take her sudden change in tone without a facial expression to read. "What brings this on all of a sudden?" he asked.

"I don't know," said the girl in the hoodie, trying to stifle a shiver but still shaking against Ash a little. "But I was thinking about it the whole trip here... We're flying off to Cinnabar, to the middle of a war-zone, to find someone who might already be dead by the time we get there but who's help we really, really need. There are people out there who know a thousand times more about whats going on than either of us, but won't tell us anything because they don't have all the information... I keep trying to tell myself that it all makes sense, but," she paused for a long second. "I don't know up from down anymore and I really don't like being in the dark."

"You didn't want to say anything around Sabrina?" Ash guessed. He felt Janine shake and interpreted it as a nod. "I know how you feel. Actually," the young Gym Leader cleared his throat, his mouth beginning to feel clumsy as his heart rate picked up, "that's one reason I'm glad you decided to come with me." He paused but went on when Janine didn't say anything. "Tell you the truth, I was really worried you'd go back to Fuchsia after you finished in Saffron, and I'd have to follow Team Rocket's trail on my own."

At about that moment, Ash felt his chest growing tighter and his face getting hot. He couldn't understand exactly which aspect of the current situation set him so on edge, but his nerves buzzed and his hands shook. As his brain turned over and over, trying to interpret exactly why the girl next to him didn't answer, he realized he would have traded nearly anything to be able to see the look on her face. Ash nearly jumped, but managed to remain still when he felt warm fingers brush across the back of his hand, then slowly slip into his palm.

"I'm right beside you," said Janine. "You can count on me."

A great sigh of relief welled in Ash's chest, but he held it in until he could slowly release it, suddenly glad the darkness so completely masked his face as he took Janine's hand in his.

"Thank you," Ash said.

"Don't mention it," said Janine, scooting closer to Ash till their shoulders touched and she could lean her leg against his. "So, does this mean..." she trailed off.

"I think I'd like it if it did," said Ash as the sound of the rain grew heavier.

SC

"I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash shouted, glaring down at the guard from Charizard's back as the man on the ground, dressed in the uniform of Pewter's Gym, trained a crossbow straight at Ash's face. "You can put your weapon down!"

Charizard snarled through his teeth, wisps of smoke trailing from his nostrils and the edges of his mouth as the guard continued pointing the crossbow at Ash. The dragon's eyes flitted to the alleys between several of Pewter Town's squat buildings as more guards came running with weapons trained on Ash and Janine.

"Sure you are," said the officer, not letting down his guard as his reinforcements arrived. "You come flying over the wall on a Charizard like Lance himself, so if you expect us to roll out the red carpet, you're on drugs. Now get off your fucking dragon before I shoot you off it."

Quickly scanning the wide Pewter street, Ash surveyed his situation. He imagined that Charizard would have no trouble cutting down the five guards in front of him, but there were three to the dragon's left who could fire before Charizard or Ash could react. Janine, he reasoned, who had stepped down from Pidgeot when the first guard came running, had shifted to a defensive posture, ready to bolt at the men threatening her at a second's notice.

"I'm only here to see Brock," Ash said, raising his hands as he tried to disarm the situation. "You guys were a lot more hospitable on my last visit." He forced a grin. A stir in the line of men beside him caught Ash's attention.

"Weapons down!" shouted a young woman stepping through the rank. "That's Ash Ketchum men. He's on our side."

Immediately Ash recognized her as Anna Satoshi, Brock's little sister and the gym member most frequently left in charge of the city whenever Brock traveled elsewhere. With a quick breath, Ash lowered his hands as the guards lowered their crossbows.

"Thanks for the rescue," Ash tried to sound amicable and polite.

Turning to face a few of the guards, Anna pointed to Ash and Janine with her thumb. "Don't threaten to perforate any Gym Leaders in the future, captain," the young woman ordered, "unless it's Kasumi of course."

"Ma'am," said the guard with a salute. "Sorry ma'am."

"Perfectly understandable," Anna reassured the officer. "Return to your patrols." She turned to Ash and, with a small grin, put a hand on her hip as the police officers dispersed. "You certainly remember how to make an entrance," said the woman. "Need something?"

Dusting himself down some, Ash stepped off Charizard and stood next to his mount as Janine stepped up next to him. "I was hoping to meet with your brother," he said. "I've got something I really need to tell him."

Glancing over her shoulder, the few scattered rays of sunlight that made it through breaks in the clouds overhead making her tanned complexion seem almost pale, Anna shifted away from Ash a little. "Sorry," she said. "He's off with my brothers and most of the town's trainers and guards to Mt. Moon. He left two days ago."

"Mt. Moon?" Ash started, his expression betraying his surprise. "What's- oh shit. Kasumi?" he asked.

"How'd you guess?" confirmed Anna.

"While we were in Fuchsia together," said Ash, "your brother mentioned that there was a... dispute, over Mt. Moon with Cerulean."

Laughing once, a humorless sound, Anna nodded. "The bitch in the bikini set up an operation on the mountain right before Brock got back from Celadon. She started tearing the terrain apart trying to scrounge up food and materials for Cerulean; normally not that big of a deal, but things have been tight for a while and the resources she started tapping into were _our _reserves. We sent an envoy of five people to talk and she sent back two very beaten up trainers to tell us to keep off "her" land. Matt, my little brother, didn't come back. So, Brock's on his way to shut her down."

Mouth dropping open a little, Ash shook himself out of his surprise. "Kasumi killed your brother? Brock's going to fight her? What all's happened in the last week."

"Brock's on his way," Anna began, "to shut Kasumi down," she spoke each word clearly. "Normally I'd hope my big brother would try to negotiate but this time's an exception."

"God," Ash muttered. "I had no idea things were so bad."

Shrugging and folding her arms, leaning away from the visitors, Anna looked between Ash and a silent Janine, then looked around the street as people began to slowly emerge from their homes. "It's been difficult lately," she said. "That's a blatant understatement, by the way. Anyway, you're always welcome, but Brock isn't here."

"Yeah," Ash stammered, leaving one hand on Charizard's neck. "Sorry to cause a stir."

"Don't worry about it," said Anna. "With Brock gone and the guards on full alert, not much doesn't cause some kind of stir. I'll be at the gym if you need anything. Feel free to stop by."

Turning to Janine as Anna began to walk away, Ash stopped trying to force a pleasant expression and promptly grimaced. "Well," he said. "I didn't see that coming."

"Brock never struck me as the type to rush off on anything without thinking," said Janine. "His profile always painted him as the defensive type. I guess the attack on his family set him off?"

"That's got to be it," Ash thought aloud before looking back up at Janine. "I just can't believe Kasumi would provoke him like that. She might as well beg him to retaliate."

"Maybe she is," Ash looked at the ground.

"I'll bet Kasumi expected to fight over Mt. Moon sooner or later and she's goading Brock into attacking her so she can fight on her own terms," Janine said. "That's exactly what I'd do in her place... make my enemy tire himself getting to a location I already have well defended." She stopped as Ash frowned at the dirt. "What do you think?" asked the girl in the black armor. "Want to go after Brock and give him a hand?"

"I don't know," said Ash. "We're rushing as is..."

"I know he's a friend," said Janine, "but I don't think Cinnabar is going to wait."

"Brock has to know what he's doing," Ash looked up. "Even if we knew exactly how to find him, there's no guarantee we'd be able to get there before any fighting started given the lead he's got on us. Cinnabar on the other hand... we already know where to go once we get there."

Janine reached up and fiddled with the edge of her hood, bunched up as it was around her neck. "I'll follow you either way," she said. "That said, it's your call."

Looking passed her, Ash thought for a second. He patted Charizard just behind one of his scaly horns. "Cinnabar it is," he said. "We'll stop in Pallet along the way and hope for the best."

"Sounds like a plan," Janine turned as Pidgeot hopped up beside her. The girl swung her leg over the Pokemon's back and began lashing herself to the saddle as Ash climbed atop Charizard.

Heaving and leaping into the air, the massive dragon jumped from the street, cutting thin lines into the cobblestone as he did, and pulled himself skywards with Pidgeot right at his tail. Ash and Janine circled the city twice as they gained altitude, both noticing now that dozens of armed men patrolled Pewter's streets and many more walked along its walls. Shaking his head and trying to process the revelation of Bock's situation, Ash angled Charizard south, away from the cloud-covered skies that seemed to blanket the north.

"Hey," Janine's voice buzzed in Ash's ear.

"What's up?" Ash asked, pressing a finger to the little radio.

"I wouldn't worry about Brock," said the girl. "He's had to have had time to plan this out."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Ash sighed, "it's out of my hands... seems like there's not much that isn't anymore."

"Hey, I know what will cheer you right up," Janine pulled up beside Ash and looked over at him. "How about we go and pick up you grandfather, head down to Cinnabar, and kill the evilest son of a bitch we find? That sounds like fun."

Ash laughed once and refocused his attention straight ahead. "Yeah," he said, his voice more confident, "it sure does."

A few minute's journey found the two trainers flying over the vast expanse of Viridian Forest. Ash shivered a little at the memory of his last visit to the wood. With no small amount of shock, he realized that the unbroken blanket of wilderness stretched from horizon to horizon, as far as he could see to both the east and west. After another several hours of uninterrupted flight, Ash and Janine came to the end of the forest beneath them and spotted Viridian City farther south.

SC

Scales glittering in the early morning sunlight, Charizard soared over the ruins of Pallet Town. Sitting on the dragon's back, Ash scanned the scene below with eyes sharp from a good night's rest. He looked between the streets where the signs of Oak's battle with the Red Gyarados could still be seen. Most of its buildings reduced to skeletons or piles of debris, Pallet had been slowly reclaimed by nature over the past months.

"There," Ash pointed to a large building by the coast, prompting Janine to follow the gesture. "There's grandpa's lab." He stared a second longer, but failed to make out any details from such height.

"Didn't you say it was destroyed in the fight?" asked Janine, gaze fixed on the ground. "It looks like someone's rebuilt it... there's a person sitting outside!" she exclaimed, pointing to the laboratory's entrance, "I can't tell who though."

"Let's have a better look," Ash patted Charizard's side.

Immediately the dragon began spiraling downwards through the clear air in wide circles, Pidgeot following behind. As they came closer to the ground and the details grew sharper, Ash saw plainly that the lab's walls, the ones on the first floor at least, had been rebuilt. Stronger and thicker windows lined the sides of the building, and a figure the size of an ant sat outside the main entrance.

A blast of white announced the arrival of a Pokemon as the figure on the ground stood up and looked towards the sky. Ash motioned for Janine to follow, and directed Charizard to angle away from the lab. Touching down in the street a stone's throw from the laboratory, Ash waited until Janine landed beside him before directing Charizard forward.

Her ornamented armor sparkling blue in the bright morning light, the woman outside the lab took a few steps to meet the new arrivals, her hand on the leathery hide of an enormous dragon at her side. Ash's mouth dropped open a little as he recognized the Pokemon.

"That's a Dragonite..." the young Gym Leader muttered, estimating the creature measured no less than thirty feet from its fanged muzzle to the tip of its bladed tail. "Get ready to run," he turned quickly to Janine, "just in case."

Walking on legs thick as tree trunks, its low growl reverberating through the morning still, the dragon plodded on all fours beside its trainer, shaking the ground as it went. The woman's pale blue lips parted in a grin as she took the cigarette from her mouth and hissed out a long sheet of white smoke. Flicking the spent butt away and putting one hand on her hip she faced Ash and rested the handle of her long spear against her shoulder.

"Well," she called out to Ash and Janine, wiping a windblown strand of blue hair from her face, "the population of this sleepy little hamlet just doubled."

His eye meeting the Dragonite's, Ash climbed down from Charizard's back and strode forward, confident that the Pokemon meant him no harm. "Ash Ketchum," said the trainer, holding out his hand. "I'm Professor Oak's grandson. Is he here?"

"Ah," toned the woman, taking Ash's hand and giving it a firm shake. "The name's Claire. Nice to meet you."

"Lance's cousin?" Ash asked, reflexively, now paying no mind to the Dragonite. "I thought I'd seen your picture somewhere. Its an honor, but what are you doing in... what's left of Pallet?"

Claire turned and nodded to the laboratory. "Your grandfather came to the Elite Four to ask for help taking down Professor Elm. Lance owed the old man a favor, being his old student and all, and sent me along to make sure Elm's brought to justice. Oak's in there, just packing up the last of his things, he said."

"Finally!" Ash laughed, looking up at the sky and drawing an uncertain glance from Claire. "Finally a little luck. We're headed after Elm also," he gestured between the girl in the black armor and himself."

"What a coincidence," said Claire.

"Something like that," Ash said, his mind flitting to Mewtwo. _I'll bet that clever bastard's been setting this up the whole time,_ Ash thought, amusedly to himself. _He could have told me though._

_Don't like,_ Haunter floated silently out of Ash's pack as Claire pointed to the laboratory and told Ash to go in if he wanted. _Feels like the mean psychic. Not the pretty one._

_Don't you dare pester her,_ Ash ordered the ghost as he began walking for the lab. _We're going to need her help and after all this shit I don't need you pissing off a heavily-armed ally._

_Won't hurt,_ Haunter responded, floating back into Ash's pack. _Won't trust, either._

Janine right beside him, Ash returned Charizard and Pidgeot to their pokeballs and pulled open the laboratory's door. Inside, the structure boasted plenty of light provided by numerous skylights and windows, though at a glance Ash could tell that each of the glass panes stood at least a foot thick, and those set in the ceilings sat reinforced and supported by steel bars.

"Grandpa!" Ash called out, his voice carrying through the building and among the stacks of boxes and walls of equipment. "It's Ash!"

"Ash?" Professor Oak's voice echoed from the other end of the structure. "Ash! What are you doing here? No wait, never mind. Come back here."

Ash smiled at Janine, touched her on the shoulder, and walked into the laboratory, picking his way between the machines, most of which he recognized as having been in the previous lab's basement when the Gyarados attacked. He came to an alcove near the back of the base, which ostensibly served as Oak's bedroom, given the comfortable furniture scattered about the small clearing. The professor, garbed in a suit of armor not dissimilar from Ash's or Janine's, stood up from lacing up his boot, and offered Ash a hand.

"Good to see you," said Oak as Ash bypassed the handshake and gave him a bear hug. He clapped his grandson on the back as the two stepped apart, and looked the young trainer over. "You seem well. What are you doing here though?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Ash said amicably, looking at his grandfather's choice of clothing and spotting the little stamp on the breastplate, an insignia identical to the Marsh Badge. "You headed off to a fight or something?"

Oak sighed and set his hands on a desk, leaning over the workbench and shaking his head a little. "As a matter of fact yes... I was just getting ready to reintroduce myself to an old associate."

"Mind if we tag along?" Ash gestured to himself and Janine. "I've got a score to settle with Elm, same as you."

Oak turned around and looked his grandson in the eye. Ash nearly flinched at the intensity in the old man's eyes as Professor Oak's gaze went cold and the wrinkles across his forehead deepened.

"Sabrina told you then?" asked the professor.

Ash nodded. "She said it was Elm who attacked Pallet and destroyed the Viridian Plantations. She said something about him going after Blaine, but the politics were a little over my head."

"I never should have assumed we were passed all this," said Oak, folding his arms in front of his chest and leaning against the workbench. "If you spoke with Sabrina then she no doubt mentioned that my relations with the other professors were not always exactly civil."

"Legendary shadow wars," said Ash. "That's what she called them. I hoped you might expound on that, actually."

"Well," muttered the professor. "Talk about a long, long, string of most unpleasant events... The concise version is simple. Rowan, Birch, Elm, Bill, and myself were each professors researching Pokemon in our home countries. At first we knew nothing about each other, but when Bill and Rowan met in a random encounter it kicked off events that lead to the five of us coming together to work together to better understand Pokemon and people alike," he stopped and glanced at Janine.

"Don't worry," said Ash. "She's on our side. I've told Janine pretty much everything."

Ash felt Haunter snicker. _Not everything,_ chuckled the ghost.

The professor and the girl in the black armor stared at each other for a second, though it was Oak who spoke first.

"Do you speak?" asked the professor.

Janine smirked. "Occasionally," she answered. "When necessary."

"Anyway," Oak resumed, "just because we all worked together didn't mean we didn't hate each other and try to steal the others' work. Elm and I especially took every opportunity to try and get the other killed." He stopped when he saw the surprise on Ash's face. "You're not a child anymore, Ash. You can handle knowing that your grandfather wasn't always the harmless old dolt he's grown into. It wasn't too long ago that most of the people who knew me were more afraid of me than most Gym Leaders."

"So why now?" asked Ash. "Why did Elm wait so long to make a move after spending so long in Johto... or is this not the first time he's attacked you and I just missed it because I was too little at the time it happened?"

Glancing at the pack he'd set by the workbench, Oak shrugged. "This is the first move he's made in a long time. After a decade or two working together, you see, we professors eventually started to genuinely value each others help. Most of us stopped fighting each other and started working together. Elm... not so much. He broke away from the rest of us when we started cooperating, but he never missed an opportunity steal our work or try to kill us."

Janine set a hand on her hip. "So why not kill him right back?"

"We tried," said Oak. "But Elm always stayed a step ahead. He always had backup plans and lackeys and a way of playing everyone off one another. More than once he almost managed to turn the Elite Four against me by setting me up to look like the bad guy... which given some of my old work, admittedly, wasn't too hard."

"You're joking," Ash dropped his hands. "How did he do that?"

"He convinced some of my friends in Hoenn that I was conspiring to kill them for having worked with Elm in the past," Oak muttered, his face falling. "At the same time he arranged for me to find 'evidence' that Norman, Caroline, and Professor Birch: my three friends, were conspiring with him to kill me. When I went to Hoenn to investigate, I found Elm and naturally attacked him while I thought he was off guard. Norman, Caroline, and Birch saw what I was doing, and they took it as proof that Elm told them the truth, and attacked me, which I took to be proof that they really were working with Elm..."

"Wow," Ash toned, listening intently. "They believed a liar like him?"

"We were all bastards to some extent," Oak continued, "I'm not surprised that even my friends could believe I would turn on them. So, when all was said and done Elm was gone and the others were dead. Clichéd as it might have been, I only found out about Elm's scheming when I happened across the letters he'd been sending to Norman, which is why I'm almost positive Elm intended for me to find those letters. Naturally, I hurried off to the Elite Four to ask for them to intervene and help me deal with Elm. As it would turn out, the letters I took for evidence damn near pinned the murder of a Gym Leader on me since Elm had gotten to the Elite Four first and told them I was going to try and pin the murders on him. All that saved me was Lance believing his former teacher over Elm.

"Ash," the professor stopped. "I'm not telling you this to try ad worry you, but because I'm... well, I might need your help."

"Absolutely," Ash nodded. "I'll help however I can."

Oak looked up at the sky through one of the barred glass panes. "You need to understand that Elm won't go down easily. I guarantee you that he's playing the Johtans off the Cinnabareans to draw me into an environment where he has some kind of advantage, but I'm also sure his plots run deeper than that. He's probably executing plans involving factions I don't even know exist and he's spent years figuring out exactly how he wants this all to happen. So... you still want to go to Cinnabar?" the older man smiled.

Ash turned and faced Janine. "I don't know," he said to the girl. "What do you think?"

"An evil genius on the loose, starting wars, reshaping the world just for his next move in a game of espionage that most people will never even know happened," Janine said, her lip curling into a grin. "When do we leave?"

* * *

AN: Complete! Well, this chapter took a little longer to finish than I wanted, but oh well. It's done. And next...! Well, we'll see what comes next.  
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the update.  
On a completely unrelated topic, hooray for possible new jobs that might not reduce even the sanest man to a twitching, gibbering puddle of his former self.


	28. Chapter 28

AN: Just a brief thing, I've been getting a lot of messages recently asking about whether or not Misty is really dead, if Pikachu will come back, and all kinds of things like that. To be brief, I can't really comment on what may or may not be a future plot point.

And hooray for me! I landed an awesome new job and just thought I'd brag a little. Thirty percent more pay, more hours, and being highly promotable definitely sounds like a step in the right direction. The only foreseeable downside is that, what with a major increase in demands on my time and a major decrease in the predictability of my schedule, means that the fanfiction will be turned out a little slower than usual.

That is not to say that this story will take forever to finish however. Hopefully the lack of time I have to write will be offset by the coming of the end which several of you have rightly predicted is nigh.

Also, thanks to everyone who keeps the other pages about this story up to date. That kind of cataloging isn't my strong point. Alrighty, on to the stuff everyone actually cares about.

* * *

Chapter 28 – Cinnabar

Inhaling deeply and looking up at the sky, holding the crisp air in his lungs for a second before sighing, Professor Oak rested his hands on his belt and looked over at Ash. The young Gym Leader stood a few paces away from the older man, both of them fastening up the last buckles and straps of their armor. Behind the professor, Claire rolled her head around, popped her neck, and held her bow out at arm's length. Without knocking an arrow, the woman pulled back on the composite weapon's string and slowly let the bow return to its restful state.

"Hey," Oak walked over to Ash and put a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "I wasn't sure how to handle the subject earlier, but I'm sorry to hear about Misty and Pikachu. I wanted you to know I'm here if you need to get anything off your chest."

Turning to face Oak, Ash nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I know," he said, taking a steady breath. "I appreciate it, but really grandpa, I'm going to be alright." He tried to grin. "You know me."

"That's why I bring it up," said the old man. "I don't want you holding it all in."

Looking away for a second, Ash spotted Janine standing on the edge of the treeline ringing in the small clearing. "There's nothing left to hold in," Ash said. "I'm just going to take things one day at a time and leave the past in the-" He turned and took a step for Janine, but Oak's strong hand falling on his shoulder rooted him in place.

"One thing," said the professor, reaching to his belt and pulling off a pokeball. He held the little device up for Ash to take. "I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten."

"Misty's Balstoise?" Ash asked.

Oak nodded. "Back to one hundred percent, courtesy of Bill."

"Charizard, Blastoise, Arcanine, Pidgeot, Munchlax, Vaporeon, and..." Ash cut himself off as Haunter giggled, "that's it. Elm won't know what hit him."

Oak cleared his throat and nodded off towards Janine. "Changing subjects, are you absolutely sure about that girl?"

"Relax," Ash grinned a little. "If she wanted to kill me she could have done it a thousand times by now. Janine's really a lot nicer than she comes across. Just let her warm up to you a little."

"If you're certain," said the professor.

Ash nodded and turned to walk for the edge of the clearing. He stepped up beside Janine and put a hand on her shoulder. The girl glanced sideways at him with a twitch, her expression flashing from serene to alert and back again.

"What's up?" she smiled from beneath her purple hood.

"We'll be leaving soon," said Ash. "Grandpa thinks we'll hit Cinnabar before nightfall if the weather's with us."

"Awesome," responded the girl.

"You don't sound too enthused," Ash noted, trying to sound reassuring and giving her shoulder a squeeze, realizing a little too late she probably couldn't feel the gesture through her armor.

"The last few days have just gone by too quickly," Janine answered, reaching up and laying her hand on Ash's. "... more than a week since we left Pallet and it feels like less than an hour. At this rate..." she stopped and let the statement hang.

"Good thing I've got you to keep me out of trouble," Ash nudged her with his elbow.

Janine smirked and pulled her hood down, bunching it up around her collar. "I told you already," she teased, turning into him and putting a finger up on Ash's lip. "I'm here for my own selfish reasons... one of which happens to be keeping you alive."

Ash and Janine returned to Oak and Claire, the latter of which had busied herself with finishing off one of the cigarettes she seemed to constantly have on hand. Pausing to check the groups radios, Ash stopped in his work for a second and turned his head as Haunter prodded for his attention.

_Still don't like the woman,_ the ghost whispered, all mischief gone from its tone. _Hiding something._

Concentrating for a second to locate the ghost and ensure he wasn't causing trouble, Ash glanced at Claire as she dug through her pack. He shook his head and returned to fiddling with the radios. He tried to ignore the tingle that lanced down his neck, but couldn't hold back a shiver.

_I'm beginning to get the same feeling,_ Ash directed the thought towards the ghost. He reflected a moment on the growing uneasiness he felt around Claire. Ever since the euphoria of such a powerful ally revealing herself in a desperate time had worn off, Ash's mind had turned over and over on what it was about that the woman that made him nervous. The restlessness had cost him no small amount of sleep, though he tried to tell himself it was only his nerves overreacting to the thought of the coming battle with Elm.

_Want her to have an accident..._ the ghost interrupted Ash's introspection.

"No," Ash said aloud but under his breath. He glanced around and finished up the radios when he concluded no one had heard his slip. _Don't do anything. But..._ he wanted to berate himself for his lack of faith, but couldn't. _Watch her. Keep me updated._

_Happily,_ Haunter's mental tone mirrored Ash's as the ghost floated invisibly behind Claire.

Shivering once and hissing out a sheet of smoke as she stood, Claire wrapped one arm around herself and flicked away her spent cigarette. "Ready?" her blue eyes roamed from Oak, to Ash, to Janine.

As the sound of flapping wings and heaving beasts filled the morning, Ash watched from Charizard's back as the little island on which their small party had camped dropped away beneath him. The sky seemed to race downwards as he rose, and eventually the trainer leveled off well over a thousand feet above the ocean. Looking to his right and then his left, Ash smirked at the sight of the three other trainers lining up around him. Atop a Charizard he'd long ago named Ember, Oak road at the head of the formation. Behind the old man, riding a dragon almost thirty feet long, Claire leaned into her exotic saddle and held onto the grips built into the seat.

Glancing through his thick visor at Janine as the girl banked and fell in beside him, Ash couldn't help but feel she looked a little out of place riding a Pidgeot alongside two Charizards and a Dragonite. Also, he realized, seeing her in the T-51b's bulky helmet would take some getting used to.

"Check," Ash raised one hand to the side of his helmet and pressed the radio. "We're all on the same channel?"

"Yep," Janine's voice buzzed in Ash's ear as she gave him a thumbs up.

"Loud and clear," Claire tapped the slim radio mic sitting beside her lip.

Oak turned around and signaled Ash with a wave. "Sounds like we're good," said the older man, his voice muffled by the helmet as the sun glinted off his visor. "From here on in though I want minimal chatter. We never know who might be listening."

Angling slightly across the wind, riding updrafts and warm breezes, the four trainers continued to gain altitude as the hours rolled on and the sun reached its zenith in the sky overhead. When a storm front rolled in from the north and west and the wind began to pick up, Oak ordered that the party descend to keep out of the fast approaching clouds. The winds kicked up behind the trainers and began speeding them along.

So quickly Ash wondered if he'd momentarily blanked out, a dark shape rose out of the sea beneath and far ahead of them. As the island grew from a speck in the distance to a colossal swath of land and in what seemed like moments, Ash and the rest of his party came near enough to the coast that all of them could see the gargantuan city that began immediately at the coast, and stretched for miles inland. Much to Ash's surprise, most of the buildings stood only a few stories tall and the city lacked a wall to mark off its border. He quickly realized that many of the dozens of ships anchored off the coast, some as long as one, two, or even three city blocks and higher than any of the city's structures, looked capable of holding far more than any of Cinnabar City's warehouses.

"Trouble," Janine stated flatly over the radio, pointing ahead and down at one of the enormous ships.

Ash scanned the scene. The twisting shadows thrown by the ships across the red sea confused his eyes until his eyes caught a number of quickly rising shapes that glinted like rubies in the dying sunlight.

Following Janine's gesture, Oak quickly turned in his saddle to face the other trainers. "Everybody stay right behind me," ordered the professor as the shapes gradually took on the distinctive outlines of men on the backs of Charizards and other large mounts.

"Challenge," an unfamiliar voice sounded over Ash's radio as the group of soldiers in black armor matched altitude with Ash's group, "judgment."

"Countersign," Oak hurriedly called out, "brimstone."

"Countersign accepted," the strikingly deep voice responded again as Oak signaled for the rest of his party to keep calm. "Unknown approaching force, identify yourselves immediately or we will knock you out of our sky."

"This is Professor Samuel Oak. I'm here to meet with Field Marshal Josheb Bashebeth." Oak raised one arm over his head and signaled the approaching trainers by opening his hand and closing it into a fist.

As the other trainers grew closer and closer, Ash scanned their ranks and counted fifteen in all. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead when he realized that ten of the trainers rode Charizards, each one only a little smaller than his own if not the same size. The other five rode atop Pidgeots and carried exceptionally long spears with heads wrapped in sparking copper wire.

"Hold up," one of the soldier's voices sounded over the radio. "Oak is a marked friendly. Professor, the field marshal is at the rear command center just outside Cinnabar City. Sir, with due respect, you picked a hell of a time for a visit."

"We're here to kill Professor Deutzia Elm," Oak announced.

Ash's ears rang with the silence for a moment as the other trainers in black armor overtook, and lined up alongside his own group after some quick maneuvers to change direction. The young savant's heartbeat thudded inside his helmet as his eyes darted amongst the menacing escorts.

"Professor," the deep voice returned over the radio as one of the Cinnabarean trainers gestured to get Oak's attention, "Command has just ordered me to not look a heavily armed gift horse in the mouth. Sir, if you'll follow us we'll take you to the command center."

"Thank you," Oak responded.

Ash looked to his side as one of the new arrivals, all of whom wore armor identical to the suits he, Oak, and Janine wore, waved to get the party's attention. The soldier motioned to one of the huge steel ships, the largest Ash thought, with a stabbing point.

Flanked by the escorts, Ash's group banked and descended to a large area at the bow, cleared of all obstructions and sectioned off from the rest of the ship by a line of perhaps fifty soldiers in green and black uniforms. His saddle jerking beneath him as Charizard landed, Ash watched as the other trainers touched down on the surface of the ship and began dismounting.

"Is this..." Ash almost stuttered as his feet touched the ground, "asphalt?"

"Makes for a better landing surface," said one of the soldiers in black armor. "The Pokemon can grip it, it's lighter than concrete, and stands up to bad weather."

"How does a boat with an asphalt deck float?" asked Ash, keeping one hand on Charizard's neck as the dragon growled and surveyed the surrounding soldiers.

"It's a big-ass boat," answered the soldier, his tone humorless as he glanced sidelong at the enormous Dragonite, the Pokemon taking up almost a third of the landing zone as Claire slowly turned it around.

While Oak and Claire stepped off their mounts and Janine curiously tapped the surface of the ship with her toe, Ash's Charizard hissed as one of the soldier's Charizard shifted. Ash's Pokemon snapped at the other beast, his fangs clamping shut just short of the Pokemon's neck. In retaliation the smaller dragon wheeled on Ash's mount and roared, rearing up on its hind legs and arcing its neck.

"Down!" Ash demanded, grabbing his Charizard by the horn over its ear and jerking its head to one side as a soldier jumped to the other dragon's side and grabbed it by the saddle. Both trainers wrestled with their Pokemon for a second, pulling the beasts away from each other as the rest of Ash's party returned their mounts to their pokeballs and watched.

When Ash got his Charizard under control and the other trainer convinced his Pokemon to quiet down, Ash turned back to the soldiers and went for a pokeball at his belt. Snapping it open and recalling Charizard in a gush of white light, he returned the ball to his belt.

"Sorry about that," Ash sighed, facing one of the soldiers who had stepped closer in case the situation escalated.

"Don't mention it. Happens all the time, just keep your animals in their pokeballs at all times and we won't have problems," said the man in the uniform. He turned away and grumbled almost inaudibly under his breath.

All sighing in relief to get out of the stuffy conditions, Ash, Janine, and Professor Oak pulled off their helmets and scanned the ranks of gathered soldiers. All but a few of the olive skinned soldiers wore dark green uniforms supplemented with protective vests. Each carried a wide array of weapons on their belt, ranging from small maces, to knives, to more exotic devices such as miniature crossbows meant to be wielded in one hand. Many of the soldiers wore strapped across their backs much larger crossbows constructed from sturdy composites, meant to fire the forearm-sized bolts such soldiers carried in small quivers.

The composition of the warrior's ranks surprised Ash once he took a second to look amongst the faces watching him. Among the soldiers not concealed from head to toe in black armor, Ash spotted an almost equal number of men and women representing every age group from teenager to senior. Many of the older troops, despite their age, carried themselves tall and bore the countenances of grizzled veterans, while the younger soldiers walked with as much purpose as their seniors, bearing demeanors just as serious.

"Professor," said one of the warriors in black, approaching the group of trainers and removing his helmet. "Welcome back to Cinnabar."

As Oak and the Cinnabarean shook hands, Ash recognized the man's voice as the one that had first greeted his party over the radio. The soldier's shaved head bore numerous scars in crisscrossing patterns, many of which wound down to the man's face, and graying stubble showed in the late evening sunlight around his mouth and up the sides of his jaw.

"Captain Zvika," Oak responded. "It's been a while. Last time was in the Orange Islands, right?"

The name sticking in his mind, Ash studied the man a little more, noting his sharp features and severe, if nonthreatening, expression.

"Shamouti Island," said the captain.

"Right," Oak grinned awkwardly. "Those pirates and the gardening... well anyway, moving on," he cleared his throat.

"The field marshal's on the bridge," the captain gestured up towards the ships tower. "If you'd follow me."

As the line of soldiers slowly broke apart and everyone returned to their duties, Ash, Claire, Janine, and Oak fell in behind the Zvika and four of his armored trainers as the procession advanced towards steel skyscraper on the other end of the ship. Leading them through a set of heavy doors, and up no fewer than a dozen flights of stairs that passed one sealed level of the tower after another, Zvika curtly advised the trainers from Kanto's mainland not to press Barshabeth, despite the field marshal having agreed to meet with Oak and his entourage.

When the captain opened the heavy steel door, Ash and Janine held their helmets close, stepped over the threshold and followed Oak and Claire onto the bridge of the ship. Quickly scanning the scene, Ash spotted the dozen soldiers sitting around computer terminals glance briefly in the direction of the door, and return to their work without missing a beat. Standing at one of the tall windows that lined three of the bridge's walls, a man in a plain green uniform turned around to face the newcomers.

Folding his hands behind his back as the numerous medals on his chest caught the waning sunlight, the aged soldier's brow narrowed, further emphasizing just how deeply the wrinkles spread across his face ran. Ash felt the urge to incline his head as he met the field marshal's measured gaze.

"Samuel," the old soldier addressed Oak, nodding as his solid voice reached across the bridge. He took a few steps towards the group and stopped when he stood two paces from the professor. "Back for a visit, professor?"

"Just here to assess the situation and deal with Elm," said Oak. "We'll be out of your hair in no time."

The field marshal took a second to look over the group of Gym Leaders behind Oak. "I see you brought your own unit," he said, standing up perfectly straight. Despite his lean physique, the tall old man struck an imposing figure.

"This is Janine, a gym Leader from Fuchsia," Oak gestured to the girl in the purple hood. "Claire represents Blackthorn, and this," he hesitantly motioned to Ash, "is my grandson. Ash Ketchum currently heads up the Vermillion Gym."

The old soldier's gaze snapped to Ash. The young Gym Leader staved off a flinch, and looked the marshal in the eye as the officer's already steely gaze hardened further.

"Grandson," Barshabeth stated flatly. He whirled on Claire as she pulled out a cigarette. "No smoking on the bridge," he stared at her.

A surprised look painting itself across her face, the thin tube already resting on her lips, Claire blinked before removing the cigarette and tucking it back into the case she returned to a pocket at her side.

"Delia's son," Oak clarified, regaining Barshabeth's attention before turning back to the other Gym Leaders. The professor cleared his throat again. "It might be best if the marshal and I had a moment to speak privately."

Raising an eyebrow, Ash started to protest, but thought better of it.

"Sure," Claire shrugged, her tone bordering on caustic. "I could do with a little fresh air." She turned and began walking towards the door.

Janine glanced about the room again, her eyes darting over every face for an instant before turning to Ash with an expression tinged with curiosity. When Ash sighed and shrugged, the pair of trainers turned and began walking for the door where Captain Zvika waited on them.

"They're the best," Ash heard Oak say, as he neared the door. "You won't find anyone better outside the Elite Four."

"That's good because I don't have many men to spare, Samuel," the officer turned back to face Oak. "Less than a month ago the Johtan vanguard, seventy-five thousand soldiers, arrived. A week ago, the main army group of three and a half million landed and began advancing east towards where we're standing right now."

Ash's breath caught as he followed Claire and Janine from the room. He tried unsuccessfully for a moment to wrap is head around the idea of an army that size. Ultimately however, he gave up on the point and contented simply followed the others up another flight of stairs in the massive steel tower, and out onto a small observation deck. Fenced in by a railing at waist height, the platform jutted out and overlooked the ship's main deck. While Claire reached into her pack, Ash and Janine silently walked to the edge of the platform and leaned on the railing as they looked at the fleet of ships all around them.

A wind blew in from the west and brought the smell of smoke to the platform, prompting Ash to look off towards the red sky where the sun had just set behind the island. From where he stood, he could make out in the distance, well beyond the hills that rose up around the borders of Cinnabar City, pillars and clouds of smoke. The dim and towering hazes seemed to glow red against the sunset and made Ash wonder exactly what kind of territory lay beyond those hills. He tried to imagine flying over a landscape occupied by a force of three million people, but his mind rejected the proposal. All he could see in his thoughts was a strip of land teeming with ants.

"What am I even doing here?" Ash mumbled, leaning down and resting his elbows on the railing as he refocused on the fleet of metal ships. He glanced towards the girl when Janine's elbow bumped his. She smiled at him, and a second later he smiled back. The pair came just a little closer together, both too absorbed by other thoughts to consciously realize they were leaning in towards one another. As the wind shifted, Ash caught the brief but intense scent of some unique perfume.

"Ash, you know something?" Janine said, her words soft enough to fade almost completely into the breeze, but spoken so close to him that her breath touched Ash face.

"What?" Ash mumbled back, a smile spreading on his face as his ears turned red.

"I think," Janine went on as she brought her lips a fraction of a hairsbreadth from Ash's, "I might just want-"

Snapping back to their senses, Ash and Janine turned when heavy footfalls came up behind them. The gnarled captain stepped up beside the two trainers and sighed, setting his helmet on the rail and staring down to the anchored ships.

"Hell of a sight, isn't it," Zvika smiled. He paused when Ash and Janine both only looked at him. "The fleet," he waved. "Five hundred warships, carrying half a million men, deploying two thousand airborne trainers that spearhead the most powerful armed force in the history of the human race." The veteran grinned and took a satisfied breath.

Ash let his eyes flit between the officer to his right, and the Gym Leader to his left. Janine looked up at him and rolled her big purple eyes. As the girl sighed and settled for resting her head in the crook of her partner's neck and shoulder, Ash stared down at the ship's black deck where a number of men stood around a flock of ten exceptionally large Fearow. As the Pokemon's trainers kept the birds calm, other soldiers pushing carts laden with large metal tubes approached the beasts and began fixing the steel pipes to harnesses under the birds' ribs. As soon as the birds hefted their payloads and walked a little farther down the deck, a new wave of trainers unleashed another flock of Fearow, and another round of soldiers with carts laden with metal devices came rolling up.

"Don't be too humble now," said Ash. He watched a moment longer as Zvika stared and Claire absentmindedly lit up. "What are they doing down there?" he asked, looking at the metal cylinders. "What are those?"

Zvika's grin widened for a second, though immediately afterward it faded into an almost disappointed gaze. "Hellfire class incendiaries... Thermate bombs," said the captain, going on to mutter under his breath, "something I wouldn't wish on anyone."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Ash mused.

"Can't call that surprising," Zvika. "From what I hear, most mainlanders still fight with clubs and axes."

Ash raised his eyebrows a little. "You don't?"

"We haven't phased them out entirely, but most of our ground troops field heavy crossbows or shock-spears," the captain responded, shifting around on the platform. We experimented with explosive powder-powered firearms for a while, but they were too inefficient and spooked the trainers' Pokemon.

"So," he looked between Ash and Janine, his tone growing almost too inquisitive for a man his age, "is it true that most mainland armies still fight in rows and columns? They just line up and shoot each other before rushing in with a sword while their trainers duke it out elsewhere?"

"Um, sort of," Ash said, confused by the question as he recalled the battle in Celadon. "But it gets confusing enough with a few hundred people, I can't imaging how it would work with thousands or," again he tried to visualize a million man army, "even more people. There wouldn't be a battlefield big enough."

"That's why it doesn't work that way," Zvika watched as yet more trainers on the deck below fitted their flying mounts with bombs. "It's also why we don't use first-generation warfare anymore."

Ash propped himself up on the rail and looked around towards the door where Claire stared off into space. He wondered exactly how long his grandfather would take. "I'll bite," said the Gym Leader. "What's first-generation warfare?"

Smirking like a teacher who had been fishing for a question, Zvika leaned a little farther over the railing. "First-gen warfare is what most mainlanders in Kanto still apparently use. Everyone lines up in nice rows, shoots at each other, and then rushes into a melee. It's organized, in the beginning at least, but it causes massive casualties on all sides unless the belligerents have completely lopsided numbers of men or Pokemon.

"The next step in war's evolution," the captain went on as if quoting from note's he'd taken in school, "came when commanders, mostly in Johto and Cinnabar, noticed that casualties were bad for an army. They began focusing on controlling lines of battle with technology and bypassing them with speed and smaller units of men. The way the Johtans are fighting now is a textbook case of second-gen combat tactics. They blitz around fortified positions to strike at the rear and disable a fort, then move on almost before the enemy has time to process that they've been crippled."

"Hm," Ash mused, letting himself get caught up in the lecture as he waited on Oak. "So how do you plan on beating that kind of speed?" he asked, almost sarcastically.

"With even more speed," Zvika answered. "Cinnabar's tactics are geared towards utterly destroying a threat before it actually becomes threatening."

"Sounds like you kinda botched that on this one," Ash grinned.

Zvika shook his head. "Yeah," he rubbed his forehead. "I've got to applaud the Johtans on their willingness to fight dirty. They struck on the holiest day of the year when we only had forty thousand standing troops on the island. The rest of the twenty-two million were all on leave."

Ash twitched and he looked over at the veteran. "You said twenty-two..." he trailed off. "You're shitting me, right?"

"Nope," the captain shook his head. "Universal conscription. Every man and woman on the island between the ages of fourteen and fifty-five serves in the army. Granted most of those aren't on active duty," he shrugged, "but in times of emergency Command can call up roughly two-thirds of the reserves without completely wrecking the economy. We're basically our own little continent down here with nine big cities and plenty of small towns and farmland in between. Needless to say, every bit of that goes into supporting the army."

"That's insane," Ash snapped. "Your entire population... every single one of you, is a trained soldier? Why?"

"You try living on a chunk of rock between Orre, the Orange Islands, and Johto, all of whom want your little chunk-of-rock-home for themselves," Zvika laughed once and reached up to scratch his stubble. "Orre fields massive armies of brainwashed and suicidally fanatical slaves wielding technology we can't rival with anything but brute force. The Orange Navy is nearly twice as big as ours and only their lack of an effective air force makes them any less dangerous than Johto which, as you can see, isn't as harmless as they come across."

"Wow," Ash muttered. "Why do they all hate you so much?"

Zvika closed his eyes and shrugged. "They're all envious of our dashing good looks and beautiful women. All they can think is 'Damn. If only we had that gorgeous little island, we could be as beautiful as those people!'" Zvika opened one eye and chuckled at the confused expression on Ash's and Janine's faces. "Nah," he went on. "There's probably more to it than that, but I can't really say what."

Ash took a breath and glanced down at Janine, who just silently rested her head on him. "So," he said after a second's pause. "You don't know why they hate you?"

The captain shook his head. More serious now, he sighed. "Not for sure. I know it's gone on for generations. My grandfather fought their grandfathers, my father fought their fathers, and everyone is trying to get back at everyone else for killing someone their side cared about..."

Ash thought for a second, struck by the familiarity of the scenario. "Do you think it will ever stop?"

"No," the captain stated flatly. "You look at Pokemon, and most of them are content to eat, reproduce, and die. They don't build armies or go to war... even the one's trained for battle don't understand the concept of a war. They just do what they're told. Then you've got humans, who will go to astonishing lengths to kill each other over anything from insults to resources. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just who we are... War is what we do, and with as good as we've gotten at it, I don't see that ever changing."

From the other side of the platform, Claire scoffed and snapped her lighter shut with a metallic ring. "Aren't you friendly," said the Johtan Gym Leader. "So while we're waxing philosophical, why don't you share something with me, like why you're so talkative, or how you plan on killing Elm?"

Both Ash and and the Cinnabarean Captain raised an eyebrow while Janine straightened up.

"I understand you're a little out of your element," Zvika said with a tone both firm but amicable, "ma'am, but there's no need to be rude."

"I came here to deal with Elm," Claire growled, startling Ash with her break from her usual calm. "Every second we stand around is one less second we have before things escalate even further and Lance decides to do something himself."

"Which would be," Ash said slowly, "bad?"

"Don't get cute," Claire glared at Ash. "You're new on the scene and you don't know how things work. If Lance ever gets off his throne, it's because things are so out of control that nothing else will fix it. And let me tell you, none of us want that."

Ash braced himself against a wind that gnawed at the back of his neck. "Sorry, sorry," he put his hands up disarmingly. "You're right, I am the new guy. If I said something stupid, I'm sorry."

Claire's icy blue eyes flitted between the captain, and the two Gym Leaders before she took a breath. "No," she said with a sigh. "I'm sorry for snapping."

"Why so tense?" Janine asked quietly.

"Everything the good captain said is true," the woman gestured at Zvika, who relaxed a little, "but in more ways than he knows. What I was told, what you deserve to know, and what Professor Oak is undoubtedly telling Barshabeth right now, is that we're sitting on a sleeping Snorlax of a political situation. Johto's invasion of Cinnabar came in direct defiance of Lance's orders to the western powers. For reasons we can't determine, Elm really, really wanted there to be an invasion on Cinnabar. He wanted it so much that he got Johto, Orre, and the Orange Islands in on the act."

Zvika was on alert in an instant. "What are you saying?" he barked.

"That if Johto fails, the Orange Islands and Orre are extremely likely to invade immediately thereafter," Claire explained. "Lance has had Rangers following Elm's trails for the last five years. He's spent a lot of time in a lot of places, and everywhere he goes he gets help and military buildup ensues. Intelligence reports from more than fifty Rangers suggests that it wouldn't stop at Cinnabar. Elm is trying to ignite something much, much bigger."

"What's he after?" Ash asked, his face hardening as his eyes narrowed. "What's he stand to gain?"

Shaking her head, Claire bit her lip. "We don't know. Lance and Agatha both think is has something to do with wanting to kill Oak and the Elite Four and I'm inclined to agree with them... If that's the case, and if Elm does manage to unite all of Johto, Orre, and the Orange Archipelago, we might not be able to stop it."

Ash shivered. "So why aren't the Elite Four doing anything?" Ash asked, his mouth beginning to go dry, despite the excessive humidity.

"They sent me, didn't they?" asked Claire. "That's a whole lot more than nothing. Besides, there's been a lot of... new developments in Malebolge recently."

The name ringing like a bell in his mind, Ash reflected for a second on how long it had been since he thought of that place or why Team Rocket was trying to access the depths of the cave. For a moment he almost chuckled at how trivial that all seemed now, but something in the back of his mind whispered that Malebolge remained at the center of the equation now unfolding around him.

"Developments?" Ash pushed. "Such as?"

"The wild Pokemon there are getting," Claire paused as if to think, "less wild, but no less powerful. There haven't been any attacks on Indigo for months, which has never happened before. When Lance sent Rangers into the cave, they all reported that the upper levels were completely abandoned, no Pokemon to be found. When he sent an expedition deeper only a single Ranger came back, and he had been reduced to a whimpering basket-case who couldn't stop crying about monsters in the dark.

"After that, Lance put the entire Indigo Guard on alert," Claire went on. "He and Agatha went into Malebolge, and came back reporting that Pokemon in the upper levels had gone completely docile. Even the normally feral breeds like Graveler and Sandslash had gone almost comatose and just stood around in groups of up to a hundred Pokemon. Lance could only guess at the number gathering there. With all the weird shit going on in the world, is it any wonder the man is getting a little jumpy?"

Ash turned as if to look over his shoulder when he heard Haunter calling for his attention.

_Ghosts can do that to Pokemon,_ the specter whispered.

_So can psychics,_ Ash thought reflexively, a chill shooting down his spine as soon as the idea registered.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked the young Gym Leader. He looked between Zvika, Claire, and Janine.

"Simple," Claire answered. "We kill Elm and hope the world doesn't blow up."

"And if that lack of leadership doesn't diffuse the situation?" Janine asked.

Claire crossed her arms and fidgeted a lock of hair, looking between Captain Zvika and the other two trainers. "Then we hope that we're better at war than everyone else," the woman in blue spit her spent cigarette over the edge of the tower.

SC

Light had long since ceased streaming in through the windows lining the ship's bridge, but still Professor Oak and Field Marshal Barshabeth continued their conversation in hushed tones. Their discussion droned out by the clicking of keyboards, the low voices of the operators behind the computers relaying orders, and the humming lights, the two old men stared out the eastern windows as they spoke.

"What about this apprentice of his?" Oak asked, under his breath. "What can you tell me about her?"

Barshabeth folded his arms in front of his chest and shifted back, staring off into the dark beyond the windows. "Nothing, except that she's good," he answered. "None of my men can touch her, and frankly it's wearing on my patience. Elm's guards mean nothing. They're window dressing. It's that apprentice... She plays the skirmisher, darting into and away from battle faster than any soldier I've ever seen. That of course let's Elm play the slow but unstoppable Snorlax and crash through any defense we can put up. If your team can get them separated I think you might have a shot."

Oak reached up and scratched the top of his head. "Do you know anything about her personally? Where did she come from?"

"We're not sure," the field marshal answered. "We've seen her use a Blaziken and a Sceptile, which suggests Hoenn. I'd say that might be coincidence if I hadn't stopped believing in such a thing. Regardless, you'll need someone fast to deal with her."

Looking out the window for a second, Oak thought back to the previous few days, when he'd watched Ash riding Charizard and Arcanine. The thought made him visibly cringe, but he couldn't deny Ash's penchant for speed. "Don't worry yourself with that," Oak muttered. "I think Ash can answer her."

"So, to deal with Elm once and for all," Barshabeth said, measured tone deepening further as he turned to face Oak, "Apollyon rides again."

"One last time," Oak let a hesitant grin cross his features. "I'm getting old, Josheb. This will have to be my last fight."

"You know that's not how it works, Samuel," said Barshabeth. "Our last fight is the one we die finishing."

"I'm not Cinnabarean," Oak responded to the old soldier.

"You married in," Barshabeth said, almost casually.

"And left," said Oak.

"We don't need reminding," the field marshal shook his head. "Never mind. Consider that off the record-" The two men stopped as the door to the bridge opened and two soldiers in black armor, leading Ash, Janine, Captain Zvika, and Claire entered.

"Perfect timing," sighed Oak.

"Captain," the field marshal walked forward to meet the officer. "You've been bitching for weeks for a shot at Elm. Well congratulations, here's your chance." The old soldier looked between the trainers from the mainland, then back to the captain. "Dragon Company will be following Samuel and his team north to intercept Elm and his escorts who are en route Blaine's Gym. Suit up captain, you leave at zero five hundred hours."

A wide smirk spread on Zvika's face. "Yes sir. Thank you sir."

As the soldiers saluted each other, Oak approached Ash and the others. Claire stepped forward and informed Oak that she'd brought them up to speed on the situation, and Oak nodded his approval. The old man ran a hand through his graying hair and patted Ash on the shoulder.

"Good luck," Oak said. "I'd tell you to get some rest, but-"

"Ketchum," Captain Zvika barked from the other side of the bridge, making everyone except for Janine, Oak and Barshabeth leap in surprise. "You're with me on deck in ten minutes," the gnarled officer strode across the bridge and stopped next to Ash.

"Huh?" Ash asked. "What's going on?"

The captain smirked wickedly. "You're flying with Dragon Company in the morning. I've heard you're good, but it's time you got at least a few hours of genuine training under your belt."

Ash both livened and withered a little at the prospect, a sudden wave of fatigue rolling over him even as his senses sharpened in anticipation of the lessons. "Don't we leave first thing in the morning?" he asked.

"C'mon, you can sleep in the saddle while we're in transit," the captain slapped him on the shoulder and walked by the trainers towards the exit. "Ten minutes!"

Ash waited until the captain had gone and the field marshal had returned to speaking with his subordinates on the bridge. He turned back to Oak with a questioning expression.

"Their house," the professor shrugged, "their rules. Besides, there will be time to sleep on the way and I think you might need the experience. As for us," he glanced at Janine and Claire, "we should probably turn in."

Waiting until Oak and Claire had both turned for the door, Janine stepped up to Ash. Quick as a thought she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him on the cheek, then reappeared by the door. Over her shoulder she winked at him, and disappeared after Professor Oak, leaving Ash stunned and standing like a statue for a second.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 – Flint and Steel

Ash tightened his grip on Charizard's saddle, twisting his knees into the Pokemon's side to steer it left. The creature hissed out a sheet of smoke that disappeared into the darkness as it tore to the left, whipping so hard through the air Ash felt he'd have flown from the saddle if he weren't strapped in. The trainer sucked in a breath as the shadow in the night swooped passed him. He had barely dodged the captain's dive, and though his nerves stung with adrenaline, he directed Charizard with a gesture and a silent thought to give chase.

As if responding to the command before it was given, the dragon snapped it's jaw shut and tucked its wings, twisting downwards and splitting the air as it dove. The wind became a deafening roar as the Pokemon spotted its quarry with keen eyes and Ash locked onto his target through the nightvision in his helmet. He angled his Pokemon to come down right on top of the other trainers Charizard.

Twisting in his saddle, Zvika spotted the threat and his Pokemon flared its wings, practically vanishing with speed into the dark. A grin split Ash's face as he read the maneuver and Charizard's jaws opened. The dragon followed his master's mental command and let loose a jet of flame that cut right in front of the Cinnabarean captain. Dazzled, the man on the larger dragon held an arm before his face, regaining his senses only a split second too late to see that Ash had gained on him.

Again directing his Charizard more with thoughts than words, Ash angled sharply downwards as the beast belched out a pillar of fire that would have roasted any unprotected trainer alive. Zvika's armor deflected the flames, though again he went blind in the flash and again Ash swooped to gain the advantage. The younger trainer dove out of the night, aiming to end the exercise with a single pass.

An instant before he would have impacted the other trainer, Ash's senses exploded in warning and he broke off the attack. The Gym Leader's Charizard spun to the right as Zvika rolled around in the saddle and lashed out with a shockspear. The coiled copper head of the weapon, silent without its power source, flitted passed Ash's ear and just under Charizard's wing. Ash heaved against the strain as Charizard threw open his wings to recover from the maneuver, and in the moment it took to regain balance, the captain had likewise recovered from his blindness.

"Alright," the radio buzzed in Ash's ear. "Let's set up and run it again. This time, you're flying ahead and I'll ambush you."

Patting Charizard's sides and sighing, his whole body aching from the constant jerking about and slamming around, Ash shook his head. "Sure," he replied, stretching a shoulder and trying to ignore the feeling that he was slowly passing through a meat grinder. "Just a sec."

"Try not to let the aches get to you," the captain advised him. "It's quite a flight from here to the gym and you'll have time to recuperate. Keep yourself in the now."

"Right," Ash acknowledged, thinking back to his earlier lessons with the captain and ascending with Charizard. He angled himself around and began flying towards the shore as if he were scouting ahead of an imaginary unit.

Hours passed. Ash and his Charizard squared off again and again against Zvika and his mount. At first it seemed that Ash could get an upper hand on the weathered soldier, but the young Gym Leader quickly learned he could never make good on an all out attack on the man. After hours of lighting up the sky with one blast of fire, one streaking charge, and one roaring dive after another, Ash's endurance began to fail him. He grew sluggish, too often taking a split second longer than he had to react, and his fatigue soon began affecting Charizard.

Trainer and Pokemon both moved slower until finally, they failed to respond in time to prevent their adversary from diving down on them. Ash felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and heard the dull impact as a heavy tail slapped his helmet and Zvika flew passed overhead. For a split second, Ash wondered if the captain had been toying with him, or if the older soldier had likewise been flying for his life.

"We're done for now," the captain announced over the radio. "See you on deck."

A moment later Ash, dismounted and standing by his panting dragon, stood on the asphalt deck of the carrier as the captain landed beside him. Ash's Charizard growled at the other Pokemon, but his trainer's hand on the side of his head calmed the beast enough to prevent an attack.

"Not bad," Zvika huffed, stepping down to the ground and pulling off his helmet. By the floodlights lining the deck of the ship, the sweat dripping from the captain's brow and chin glinted plainly, making Ash feel a little less defeated. "Not great," the man went on nonchalantly, "but not bad."

"Did I pass?" Ash leaned over and put his hands on his knees.

"To be honest," said the captain, "your technique is sloppy and your movements are inefficient, but you're freakishly fast. Ill give you that."

"Thanks, I think," Ash answered. "But it's not like I'm the one doing the flying," again he patted Charizard, prompting the Pokemon to carry its head a little higher.

"Your Charizard's quick," the captain went on, "faster than most of its kind that I've seen, but don't sell yourself short, Ketchum. Not many riders can hang in there like that and maintain that level of performance for hours on end. Along those lines," he studied the trainer for a second, "how long have you worked with Pokemon?"

Ash had to think for a second. "I started the day I turned six. Why?"

Zvika nodded. "That sounds about right. You react like someone born in the saddle. Gotta say, there were a few times up there I thought you had me."

"And that's good?" Ash probed.

The captain took a deep breath and tried to wipe his forehead with the back of his armored hand. "Dragon Company is the most elite unit of trainers Cinnabar has to offer. I head them up because I'm the best of the bunch. Don't let it go to your head, but your kind of talent would fit right in with us."

"I'm going to need all of that talent against Elm," Ash smirked.

"Keep a cool head," Zvika said, looking off to the east and trying to judge if the illumination he saw was a hint of the coming dawn, or glow from elsewhere on the enormous island. "From what I hear Elm's apprentice thrives on chaos and she'll take every chance to keep you off guard."

"Duly noted," said Ash. He stood up and took a breath and smiled as he let it out, his mind beginning to slow down. "I'll do whatever I can. Just get Blaine out alive."

"Will do," the captain nodded. "Get below deck, clean up and get hydrated. It's zero four hundred now so I'll see you up here in an hour."

SC

As he stared down at the slimy black mass wobbling around in the plastic can in his hand, Ash could have sworn that the gelatinous substance stared back at him. Glancing around the small dip in the land where the rest of the trainers had settled, Ash spotted Oak, Captain Zvika, and the rest of the Cinnabareans eating the stuff without hesitation, while he, Clair, and Janine all demonstrated identical pause.

"Here goes," Ash muttered, scooping up a spoonful of the mass and moving it towards his mouth. Charizard, who rested behind Ash, and whom Ash and Janine rested upon, squinted and watched with uncertainty as Ash closed his lips around the spoon. Immediately the young Gym Leader's expression broke. His eyes went wide as his pupils shrunk and all color faded from his face. For a second Ash froze, even as he began to feel like his mouth burned. A sweat broke out on his brow as the tastes of vomit and strawberries, but primarily vomit, clung to his tongue like napalm. Finally, he swallowed and resumed breathing.

"Well?" Janine prodded, glancing up at him as Clair looked on eagerly.

Holding in a groan, his eyes beginning to water as his complexion grew red, Ash simply focused on breathing for a second while a few of the surrounding Cinnabareans looked on with amusement.

"It tastes like shit," Zvika called, saving Ash the trouble of speaking and drawing a few chuckles and nods from his men.

"Don't be polite," Oak responded, gesturing to the sludgy mass with his spoon. "It tastes like a Raticate ate ten pounds of carrion and took a crap. But, you'll get used to it." He took another bite. "Guess you can't fit two thousand calories, a day's worth of vitamins, _and_ flavor into so little space, so they just left out the..." he paused and smirked, looking over at the three trainers who continued to stare at their dinners. "It's not going to kill you," he almost laughed. "That's one of Cinnabar's staple crops, everyone down here eats it."

"No wonder they're all so cheery," Ash muttered, taking another bite. Again the rancid flavor bit into his tongue, but he had to admit that it was less shocking this time. He could definitely tell though, that the sludge was no natural substance. He almost shivered at remembering his grandfather's explanation of how Blaine grew the stuff from algae he fed a diet of compost. "God," he groaned, wanting to set the alleged meal aside. "How do you people eat this everyday?"

Scraping the remnants from the bottom of her can and finishing it off, one of the trainers sitting beside Dragon Company's captain, a younger woman who wore her black hair tied back, smirked. "You learn when you're young that it's this or starve," she said, her words skewed a little by the heavy scar that twisted her lower lip into a stiff knot. "Then once you get out of boot camp and start earning actual money, you can spend it on food that doesn't suck, if you like."

Ash shook his head and turned as Janine steeled herself and took a bite of the sludgy stuff. The young Gym Leader couldn't hold in a laugh when the girl went rigid, as though her hair were going to spike out in all directions in protest.

"Alright, everyone suit back up!" Zvika shouted, getting to his feet once everyone had finished or was finishing eating. He and the woman with the scar began walking amongst the large body of trainers and passing out small pills from a large bag he'd retrieved from his mount's. "Elm's burning sky for Blaine's mansion to reinforce the troops already attacking the lab. We can't lose that mansion," the captain barked every word, and a collective battle cry went up from the gathered trainers.

Ash took a deep breath, glancing around the small dip in the terrain. He tried to tell himself that he was still in his element, that he could handle what was about to happen, but in the back of his mind Ash realized that he had suddenly become a very, very, small part of a monumentally large conflict. There were one hundred other trainers sitting or beginning to stand around him, every one a hardened soldier with more experience with Pokemon than most trainers in Kanto could boast.

_And this is just part of their army,_ Ash shivered at the thought of this force flying off to meet one even larger than itself. _People back home don't have a clue how easy they've got it..._ He caught himself missing the days where avoiding death was as simple as staying out of the tall grass.

Thanking the captain reflexively, Ash took the little pill offered him and stared at it for a second. "Hey," he looked to his grandfather, who sat beside him. "What's this exactly?"

"Herbal stimulant," said the professor. "Take one, once in a while, and it wakes you up and keeps you sharp" He popped his head back and swallowed the capsule as Ash and Janine did the same.

"Our ETA at the mansion is two hours!" the captain in black armor shouted as his troops all got to their feet and broke up into a dozen or so squads. "You've all got your assignments! Good luck," he paused as the first section of trainers, twenty-four in number, released their mounts from their pokeballs and took to the skies. A few seconds later the next unit of men in armor stepped atop their Charizards and shot into the skies without a word.

"My men and I," Zvika turned to Professor Oak, Clair, Janine, and Ash, as he and the remaining Cinnabarean trainers mounted up, "will handle the Johtans assaulting the mansion. Good luck with Elm. If I can find a free moment I'll do what I can to help, but this is your op." He exchanged salutes with Oak.

"Good luck," said the older man.

Zvika nodded and took hold of the handles on his Charizard's saddle. "Drinks are on me when this is over. See you on the other side." He barked an order to the rest of his men. In a flurry of wind and dust kicked up be leathery wings, the captain and the soldiers in black jumped into the sky and angled themselves north.

Oak took a deep breath and looked between the three other trainers. "You all know what to do," he said. "Ready to get this over with?"

Ash and Clair both nodded and grunted an affirmation, but Janine remained both silent and still.

"Alright," said the old man, snapping open a pokeball at his belt and stepping back as Ember leapt from the light and landed beside his trainer.

As the professor slung one leg over the Pokemon's saddle, Clair stepped back and released one of her massive Dragonites from its pokeball and climbed onto its back. Adjusting the straps along her legs and pulling her belt around for easier access to her Pokemon, the Johtan Gym Leader grinned smugly and patted her Dragonite on the base of its scaly neck.

"Good luck you two," she looked up at the sky.

"Stick to the plan," Oak shouted as his Charizard snapped its wings shut and rocketed skywards, his words almost drowned out by the roar of wind that tore away from Clair's Dragonite as the monster followed him into the slowly aging afternoon sky.

A few seconds passed as Janine and Ash looked on in silence, before the girl in the purple hood turned to Ash. "This sucks!" she snapped at him, only her tone at odds with her otherwise statuesque composure. "I'm good for more than recon, you know. If you're going to be fighting this apprentice, I want to be there to help."

Ash wanted to smile a little, touched, but held off the expression. "We both know that open combat isn't your strongest point," he stated flatly. "It would put you in the way of a lot of unnecessary danger."

"But recon?" Janine pined. "I want to do more than fly around and keep tabs on everyone. I want to help-"

"And I want you helping too," Ash interrupted. "Believe me, I really want you there with me. But Grandpa was right... we need someone to keep everyone informed. We've got at least three big fights going on and if any one of them starts going badly, everyone else needs to know it so there won't be any surprises."

"Yeah," Janine began, "but..." she trailed off.

"Besides," Ash said, reaching over and taking her hand. "I want you as far from harm's way as possible. OK?" He grinned.

The girl looked down at her feet, ears starting to turn red. "You're just saying that."

"After this is done," he answered, "I'll prove that wrong."

Janine looked up and for a long few seconds the two trainers said nothing. Ash couldn't help staring into the girl's eyes, silently marveling at their amethyst coloration. Some fraction of his brain tried to snap the young Gym Leader from his trance, but it failed. Ash stepped forward and, pulling her hand behind him, brought Janine up against him. A baffled smile flitted across the girl's face as Ash put one hand on the side of her face and leaned in. She wrapped her arms around his back and stood on her toes, closing her eyes and tilting her head a little as he kissed her.

Sensations like electricity shot through Ash's skin and he pulled Janine tighter against him, too distracted to notice the armor in his way. His hand migrated from her cheek to the base of Janine's neck and then to the back of her head as his breaths grew sharper and his eyes closed. After several seconds, he pulled his lips away from hers, ignoring Janine's quiet moan of protest. As he went at her neck and began planting kisses all over the skin between her chin and collar, the girl's head leaned back, her whimper continuing though all protest had gone from its tone.

Taking a huffing breath, Ash stepped back. Face flushed, he gathered himself as Janine opened her eyes and looked at him, her expression as dazed as his own and just as hungry for more.

"Finish this later?" Ash said, his body growing uncomfortably tight in continued anticipation.

Janine stood still for a second but nodded after regaining her faculties. "You're cruel," she smirked, still obviously struggling to concentrate, "and I'm holding you to that."

Picking up their helmets from the ground, Janine waited as Ash grabbed two pokeballs from his belt and tossed them to the ground. Snapping open and unleashing a torrent of white light, Ash stepped back as his Charizard and Pidgeot materialized out of the light.

"Good luck," Janine said, handing Ash his helmet.

"Stay safe," Ash muttered, stepping up and strapping himself into Charizard's saddle, the Pokemon growling and shifting around.

Janine finished lashing herself to Pidgeot's saddle, and both trainers gave the command. With a burst of wind, they took off and climbed higher, the landscape dropping away beneath them. Without breaking radio silence, they flew over the rolling plains of the massive island and towards the rapidly approaching mountain in the distance. Quickly the terrain began growing hillier, the tall grasses vanishing into darker and darker packed dirt.

SC

Clair consciously licked her lips and tried to focus on something other than the dryness of her mouth or the churning in her stomach. "Wow..." she muttered.

She looked at Professor Oak who flew silently beside her, and then at the ground far below. Less than a mile ahead, Cinnabar's only mountain, a colossal tower of rock wider at its base than any city on the mainland, jutted up into the clouds. Its crown wreathed in light from the molten contents of the caldera beneath it, the mountain looked down at a hellish landscape of burned ground, pockmarked with craters ranging in size from one to one hundred feet across and crisscrossed by what must have been dozens of miles of trenches.

Where the trenches ended, an ominous stretch of ground scarred by weeks of brutal combat began and ran for only a hundred yards up to the base of the mountain. At the end of the no man's land, carved from the rock at the base of the volcano, stood the facade of a massive building. From their vantage, Clair and Elm both could see the tall and wide windows carved through the facade of the structure had long since been barricaded. They also spotted the figures, trainers and soldiers, scurrying around in the trenches like ants as figures on dragonback swooped out of the sky and men and Pokemon rushed from the entrance of the stone complex in the mountain to assault the trenches.

"Elm's late," Clair muttered, watching as bolts of lightning, streams of fire, and missiles of chromatic energy flew across the no mans land like angry hornets and the screams of battle carried high into the air on the wind.

Oak didn't answer.

The two trainers watched a little longer as the battle intensified. Dragon Company's trainers strafed the trenches, letting loose columns of searing flames that washed over the earthworks like tides on a beach, before darting away like insects, chased by flurries of energy and missiles that filled the air in response to the raids. In the no mans land massive flashes of light and webs of arcing electricity exploded into and out of existence like fireworks. Some of the attacks struck groups of infantry, scattering the men who dove for the land's scarce cover, while other bolts of energy struck shields of yellow light that sprang up around the battlefield to absorb the incoming attacks. At the head of the charging Cinnabarean infantry, several flashes signaled the arrival of Pokemon that unleashed barrages of ranged attacks. Fireballs flew from the front ranks and exploded over the trenches with dull thuds. Cones of lightning crackled and sent tendrils of scathing energy into the Johtan line, and dozens of tiny Pokemon, mostly Rattata and other vermin Oak saw, charged the trenches in suicide attacks.

With a great cry from all of the belligerents, the Cinnabareans reached the trenches and the Johtans readied themselves to receive the attack. Men and Pokemon alike threw themselves into the defensive ditches and in an instant all of the front lines of trenches burst into scintillating colors. Filling with fire, water, flashes of electricity, blasts of acid, cones of frigid air, and visible ripples of psychic energy, the forward trenches pulsed and glowed like cracks in the side of an erupting volcano.

From the northern flank of the trenches, dozens of intense points of light sprang to life and faded, drawing Oak's attention. As he waited for his target to show itself, the professor spotted that the Johtan trainers in the north had released their flighted Pokemon and taken to the skies. Only a minute or two later, the air over the trenches filled with a din that downed out the maelstrom of chaos below as Dragon Company engaged the Johtan air force. Almost blotting out the ground below it, the very first exchange of fire from Dragon Company and the Johtans was a dazzlingly bright blast of dozens of jets of flame. Immediately thereafter, all pretenses of organization in the air collapsed as smoke and flame blotted out the scene and obscured everything beneath the thickening haze that flashed with crisscrossing lines of interior flame.

Hearing a cheer go up from the Johtan line and turning to see what was the matter, Oak and Clair both saw the figures approaching in the distance. The old man's heart beating faster as he unconsciously clenched his fists, Oak spotted the glimmer of red fast approaching the trenches, immediately identifying it as Elm's unique Gyarados. The monstrous serpent roared, the sound reaching Oak's ears even over the wind.

"Time to go," said the old man.

Nodding, the woman in the blue armor tapped her Dragonite's side and pointed towards the red Gyarados. Both Oak's Charizard and the Dragonite strained against the wind and changed course, flying close enough to spot the dozen or so other shapes following in the Gyarados's wake. Heedless of that, Clair spurred her mount forward pulling her spear from her back and raising it over her head as she charged the Gyarados. Oak split off and banked hard to the side.

The Gyarados slowed just a little as the massive shape dropped out of the sky and into its field of vision, then continued forward and picked up even more speed as a man on man riding a giant spider behind it shouted an order. The huge red Pokemon opened its jaws in a defiant roar as the Dragonite shot forward, flared its wings and opened its clawed hands. With a thunderous crash the Dragonite and the Gyarados slammed into one another and tumbled backwards. Clair felt every joint in her body pop from the jolt of the impact, but still shoved herself forward, leaned over her Pokemon's side, and aimed her spear. An instant too late, she lunged and her weapon clinked off the Gyarados's armored eyelid.

As the Gyarados began to tumble backwards under the force of Dragonite's attack, Clair took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on a single stab, waiting for the Gyarados to open that eye. When the red monster's lid began to part, Clair spit out the breath and lunged. She felt nothing, no resistance as the long blade of her spear passed effortlessly into the monster's iris, until the metal struck flesh and an instant later stopped on bone.

A skull splitting shriek exploded from the Gyarados and it jerked its head away, tearing the spear from Clair's hand as the Dragonite pinned the red monster to the ground. It's jaws wide, Clair's Dragonite plunged forward and bit into the Gyarados's elongated neck as Clair hurried to get the straps holding her to the saddle undone. With a second roar, the Gyarados opened its maw and bit into the back of Dragonite's skull at the base of its head. Yellow energy flashed from between the red monster's jaws and a massive Hyper Beam blasted into Dragonite's scaly hide, breaking the dragon's grip on the Gyarados and catapulting both Pokemon away from each other.

Oak didn't allow himself to watch the conflict between Clair and the Gyarados, instead focusing on the several men behind the monsters, all but one of whom wore green armor and rode atop a swarm of Ariados. Spotting his target, riding in the center of the crowd of bodyguards, Oak's blood boiled in his veins and he ordered his Charizard to attack.

"Elm!" he bellowed, his voice booming even through his helmet. "You're a dead man!"

As every one of the bodyguards turned to look, Oak swooped in overhead, leveling off only six feet from the ground and charging forward. Snapping its wings for a final burst of speed, Oak's Charizard opened its claws as it shot over the heads of the men in the armor, slashing and ripping and decapitating two of the guards before they could register what was happening. Barely able to process how fast he was moving, Oak ordered an attack and Ember opened its jaws.

Smirking from where he sat on his Metagross, Elm made no effort to move. As Oak shot towards him, the man wearing the white armor put one finger on his glasses and watched as a barrier of blue energy leapt into existence directly between himself and Oak. The older professor slammed headlong into the barrier, shattering both it and Elm's smug expression like glass and continuing forward. Rearing around on his mount, Elm ducked and put his hands over his head as a hissing Charizard's jaws snapped shut just behind his neck.

"Okay," Elm muttered, his unremarkable features twisting into a scowl. He raised his voice and waved as Oak wheeled around. "Not bad for an antiquated relic, old man!"

Oak and his Charizard set down a few dozen yards from Elm and his bodyguards. As he grabbed pokeballs from his belt in both hands, Oak threw the little orbs to the ground. When he heard the red Gyarados shriek in pain he risked a glance towards Clair.

Ahead of the rest of the trainers and their Pokemon, Clair and her Dragonite had just recovered from being blasted away from the red Gyarados. The Dragonite had managed to turn in midair to avoid landing on its back and crushing its trainer, and now stood on all fours opposite the enraged Gyarados. The two gargantuan Pokemon stared each other down as Clair went to her belt, grabbed a pair of pokeballs, and steeled herself.

"Perfect timing!" Elm shouted, glancing about as his bodyguards wheeled from the suddenness and ferocity of the attack, before looking to Oak as Pokemon appeared all around the aged professor. "I had worried you'd miss the-"

"Kill him!" Oak shouted to the Pokemon all around him. Immediately his Arbok and Scyther both hissed and shot forward like bullets. His Blastoise and Venusaur roared a battle cry, at first lumbering but building up speed as they charged. Professor Oak's Sandslash loosed its metallic cry, and clicked its talons together as the Machamp beside it bellowed and ran towards Elm's men. "Don't give him a chance!"

Elm watched, his eyebrows snaking up his forehead as Oak's forces smashed into his own. Before the bodyguards could release a single Pokemon or jump from their mounts, Professor Oak's Scyther and Arbok had reduced one man and his mount to an eviscerated mass. By the time the guards had gathered themselves and begun to fight back, releasing their own Pokemon, most stood right in the face of Oak's onslaught.

"Don't worry, professor!" one guard repositioned himself in front of Elm. "I'll protect-" he stopped mid sentence as a blue and flamelike aura appeared around him and he rose off his Ariados. In a flash the guard screamed and burst into flame, his corpse dropping to the ground beside his mount.

"How unsportsmanlike," muttered the younger professor, spotting the Alakazam, its eyes alight with blue fire, hovering next to Professor Oak. The younger scientist raised one arm in front of his face as a bubble of rippling air formed in front of the Alakazam and shot towards him, exploding in a silent blossom of blue energy as it struck a blue barrier that materialized in front of Elm. "Good boy," the professor patted his Metagross on the head.

Seeing that Oak had begun hacking through Elm's defenses, Claire refocused her attention on the Gyarados in front of her. Flicking her wrists she threw the pokeballs out to either side and both burst open in flashes of light. One pillar of light grew longer and wider, cooling and solidifying into a second Dragonite, nearly as large as Clair's first, while the other light coalesced into a long and snakelike Pokemon covered in glittering blue scales.

Her Dragonair rose off the ground and hovered in midair as Claire leapt from her Dragonite's saddle and onto the back of the smaller Pokemon. At the same time her two Dragonite's roared and threw themselves at the Gyarados. One of the orange beasts crashed into the much larger red Pokemon and raked its claws down the Gyarados's armor, clinking harmlessly off the larger and thicker scales, but tearing smaller plates asunder and exposing the Pokemon's flesh to the air. The second Dragonite jumped into the air and flared its wings, circling above the Gyarados and readying to drop down upon it.

Roaring in fury and pain, the Gyarados wrenched its body forward and coiled its thick tail around the Dragonite attacking its front, while simultaneously leaning back and opening its jaws. The air buzzed with energy as beam of yellow light, nearly as wide as the Pokemon it struck, slammed into the flying Dragonite, exploded in a cloud of black soot, and sent the orange Pokemon tumbling through the air. It's head now momentarily freed, the Gyarados turned on the Dragonite furiously struggling in its clutches. The red monster, one eye locked closed around the bloody protruding spear, howled an attack and arched its neck over the Dragonite. Again opening its jaws, the Pokemon belched out a cloud of hissing fire that rolled over the captured Pokemon.

Heedless of the pain as the acrid fire bit into its skin, the Dragonite screwed its eyes shut and lunged up, blasting the Gyarados with a breath weapon of glowing hot fire of its own. As the airborne Dragonite recovered from its reeling and a cloud of fire and smoke blotted out all sight of the two dueling Pokemon on the ground, Clair drew her bow and pulled an arrow back by her lip, ready to aim for the monster's other eye the second the opportunity presented itself.

The woman in blue flinched and tightened her grip on her bow as a grinding crack rippled through the air. The cloud of smoke exploded as the red Gyarados charged from the fumes, flinging aside the smashed Dragonite and spitting out the truncated Pokemon's head. Clair screamed and reflexively loosed an arrow, her eyes going wide as her Dragonair lanced up into the sky to escape the attack. The missile flew forward, through the monster's wide jaws, and thudded into the back of its throat. For an instant the Gyarados's charge faltered and Clair escaped into the sky.

"Shit," she hissed, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead as she spotted the remains of her cousin's loaned Pokemon. "Shit shit shit," she put away her bow and held tight to Dragonair's saddle as the blue Pokemon banked to avoid a thundering Hyper Beam Attack.

On the ground, Elm and Oak stared at each other across the field of slaughtered men who had only a moment ago protected the younger professor. The two men ignored and didn't even truly register Clair's battle with the Gyarados as they sized each other up. Oak bit his lip, glad his thick helmet hid the expression, as his eyes flitted between Elm's tensed Pokemon.

The two Ursaring, both standing like brown statues bristling with claws, fangs, and muscles would have been menacing enough if they weren't dwarfed by the pair of Tyranitar standing behind them. The green Pokemon, ten foot tall mountains of stony plates armed with limbs bulging with strength, stood on their hind legs and awaited the order to attack. Elm smirked from atop his Metagross, flanked by a tall Typhlosion wreathed in a fiery mane, and a taller Feraligatr that hunched on three of its limbs. All of these Pokemon however drew less of Oak's attention than the titanic creature looming behind the younger professor, a great serpent standing almost as tall as the red Gyarados, but glittering silver instead of crimson. The Steelix let its beady red eyes wander amongst its opposition.

_Master,_ the voice echoed inside Oak's head, prompting the old man to glance at the Alakazam standing beside him. _If I may, I believe direct attack_ _to be unwise. Retreat is preferable._

"Are you afraid of death?" Oak whispered to the psychic Pokemon, his voice catching on the words as his shaking fingers slowly balled into fists, making his gauntlets creak.

_No,_ the Pokemon answered casually. _I am quite curious as to what comes after._

"Then all that matters is killing that man," Oak nodded towards Elm.

_I understand,_ the Alakazam glanced at its master, then locked its gaze on the man on the Metagross. _Master, if it comes to that, serving you has been an honor._

"There's no getting away this time," Elm called from atop his mount, looking between Oak's Pokemon. "You're going to die here, old man. I'll christen a new world order with your blood and usher in an age the likes of which no one has ever seen!"

"New world order..." Oak answered, his voice growing calmer as he removed his helmet to be better heard. "Johto's in political ruin and ready to annihilate itself. Orre's a wretched cesspool where even death can't relieve the suffering. Hoenn will likely never recover. If these are your new world, I want no part of it and I'll take you to hell with me before you lay a hand on Kanto."

"So righteous all of a sudden," Elm laughed once. "Hoenn is your fault."

"You tricked me!" Oak shouted, calm demeanor flashing to barely contained fury.

"You were still the one who killed Norman, and Caroline... oh, and Birch too," Elm grinned, "kicking off wars of succession and vengeance amongst the nobles that have left who knows how many people dead and countess more living like animals. And who could forget Orre or your contribution to Johto's lovely system? Face it old man, every time you try to beat me, you wind up accomplishing exactly what I want you to," he paused and watched as the old professor's face fell. "And today, I'll kill you and add another savant to my collection once I track yours down."

Oak looked up. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I didn't think it was fair," the younger man gestured nonchalantly. "Everyone else was so busy successfully forcing evolution along that I felt I was falling behind by not having one of these meta-humans on my side. You bred one, Rowan grew one, and Birch simply found one. Birch's find seemed the most amazing, so I had you kill him and I stole his." The younger scientist's grin exploded into laughter when he saw the confusion on Oak's face disintegrate into horror. "You see old man," Elm could barely contain himself, wrapping his arms around his waist to hold in the cackles, "you've never done anything that wasn't what I wanted. No one ever has! The Elite Four, Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Mewtwo, Cinnabar, all of their plans for power have fit squarely into mine! I'll kill you here, and then I'll kill all of them! I win! Oak, don't you get it? I win and this world is mine!"

The older professor's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as Elm's uproarious celebration grew louder. "Mewtwo?" he probed, his hand going to his belt reflexively as a loud crash and a roar a few dozen yards away signaled another thunderous collision between Claire's Dragonite and Elm's Gyarados.

"Oh, just some manipulative bastard hiding in a cave," Elm's laughter slowed and he wiped some moisture from his eye, waving his hand dismissively. "He tries to run things from the shadows, building an army to destroy the Elite Four, conquer the world, enslave humanity, et cetera, et cetera." Elm smirked again. "He was useful for helping me garner Orre's and the Archipelago's support, but in the end he'll kneel before me or die, the same as everyone else."

The older man drew in a breath and slipped his helmet back over his head. "Elm," he muttered, too quietly for the man on the Metagross to hear, clenching his fist as his every muscle readied to pounce. "DIE!" Oak roared, stabbing one finger forward. "Attack!" he shouted to his Pokemon.

His jeering cut short by the headlong attack, Elm straightened in his seat as a blue barrier sprung up around him. A dozen green leafs spun like buzz saws through the air and thumped against the Metagross's barrier, sticking in midair for a split second before falling harmlessly to the ground as the rest of Oak's Pokemon charged forward and the field around the two trainers erupted into utter chaos.

Elm's two Ursaring barreled towards Oak's Scyther and Machamp. The latter Pokemon raised its four muscled arms and lashed out with invisibly fast jabs and hooks, stopping the two bears in their tracks and beating one to the ground in an instant. At that same time, Oak's Scyther flashed forward and appeared behind the second bear, screeching as it attacked and drove one of its bladed arm's up to the elbow into the Ursaring's ribcage. With a hissing roar, the pain of its skewered lung dulled by a berserk rage, the Ursaring turned on the Scyther and gripped its lethal appendage with a padded hand.

Growling with effort as the Machamp continued to engage the other bear, the fatally wounded Ursaring drew the struggling Scyther's blade from its ribcage and held it firm. The Scyther began hacking at the bear with its free arm as the Ursaring raised one hand to attack. Roaring, the Ursaring swiped downwards and hacked into the Scyther's carapace, ripping open its chest and flinging green ichor across the ground. Hissing in pain and fury, the Scyther threw itself on the Ursaring, ripping its captured arm free and severing four of the bear's fingers from its hand in the process. With all its weight, the Scyther drove one scythed arm into the stumbling Ursaring's chest, and the other bladed appendage into the bear's throat. Throwing open its arms with a shriek of victory, Oak's Scyther spattered the ground with crimson blood as it flung the Ursaring's body in one direction and its head in the other.

With a pained breath, its vision beginning to fail, the Scyther spotted the second Ursaring beginning to gain ground on Oak's Machamp. The dying insect hurled itself forward and dug its clawed feet into the bear's back, rearing back and swiping down, cleaving the Ursaring open from its collar to the base of its sternum, before going limp and falling backwards. Even as the Scyther fell back, Oak's Machamp shouted a battle cry and put its foot on the blindsided Ursaring's chest and kicked it to the ground where it moaned but otherwise lay motionless.

Raging about the Machamp as the Pokemon got its bearings, the battle rose to a higher pitch. Oak and his Charizard circled above and watched as their team ripped madly into Professor Elm's monsters. The tow Tyranitar squared off against Oak's Machamp and Sandslash. Even as the Machamp knocked one of the green Pokemon to the ground and leapt on top of it, beating it with four huge fists till blood spat from the armored Pokemon's mouth and joints, the Second Tyranitar fell on Oak's Sandslash like an avalanche. The Sandslash could do little but watch, its claws rebounding harmlessly off the Pokemon's hide, as the Tyranitar reached down and grabbed the smaller Pokemon. It's cries cut short, the Sandslash yelped as the Tyranitar's heavy foot crushed down on it and ground it to pulp in the dirt.

"Professor!" the radio in Oak's ear shrieked as Clair yelled. "Oak, help!"

Turning in his saddle, Oak looked towards the north, where Clair's fight with the Gyarados had both migrated almost a hundred yards from the rest of the battle and turned against her. The professor looked just in time to see the Dragonite, swooping in for a reckless attack against the wounded Gyarados, turn too slowly to avoid an oncoming Hyper Beam. The dragon and the blast of energy collided in midair with a thunderous boom the sent the Dragonair tumbling into the Gyarados. In a flash, the red monster had gained the advantage over the stunned dragon and coiled around it like a constricting snake.

Oak heard Clair scream as her leg crunched between her Pokemon's scaly hide and the Gyarados's armored frame. The old man heaved on his mount's reins and the Charizard banked hard, angling to intercept the Gyarados as Claire desperately jabbed her spear into the Gyarados's exposed gumline. A flash of light dazzled the old man's senses, and he looked to his flank just in time to see a bubble of psychic energy explode against a yellow barrier that sprung up before him not an instant too soon. The old man spotted his Alakazam as the yellow Pokemon let the Light Screen drop to refocus its attention on its duel with Elm's Metagross.

"Oak!" Clair screamed, her voice breaking as her Dragonite charged into the grappling match and all the Pokemon involved tumbled to the ground. The Gym Leader had since undone the straps holding her to the saddle and now hung in the fray only by her leg, crushed and in the process of being ground to burger.

Professor Oak pulled up in time as the tumbling mass of enormous bodies rolled over and nearly crushed him, though he heard Clair's shouting for help cease abruptly as she disappeared beneath the pile. When the now completely blind Gyarados and Clair's Dragonite tore away from each other to reposition, Oak watched, helplessness welling in his chest as a motionless Dragonair and its mangled trainer fell to the ground.

"Fuck!" the old man hissed, turning and watching as Elm's titanic Steelix rushed headlong into the fray and engaged an already overwhelmed Machamp and Arbok. While Oak reared Charizard around, his purple serpent dodged out of the way as the Steelix fell against Machamp.

The metallic Pokemon snapped down, its fangs stopping mere inches from the Machamp's head as all four of Machamp's bulging arms gripped the Steelix's jaws and held them open. Roaring with effort, the Machamp heaved to one side brought the Steelix crashing to the ground on its side. His grip however, slipped, and the Machamp could only watch as the metallic Snake's jaws snapped shut and clamped down on the higher of his left arms. A sharp crack filled the air and the Machamp stumbled back, its till-then trapped limb simply ending at the shoulder, the stump spitting blood with every beat of the Pokemon's heart.

A few paces away, Oak's Blastoise squared off against Elm's Typhlosion. Despite Elm's screaming for the Typhlosion to disengage, the fiery Pokemon's temper flared and it charged the Blastoise. Tucking its shoulder, the blue Pokemon surged forward like the sea and smashed into the Typhlosion. Both Pokemon stopped for the smallest fraction of a second, before the Blastoise's greater mass overwhelmed the Typhlosion and blue Pokemon sent the fiery one tumbling to the ground. Falling on top of the Typhlosion, Oak's Blastoise snapped forward and clamped its jaws closed against the pinned Pokemon's neck. Blood pulsed up and transformed the creme fur into a stick black mat as the Typhlosion curled up and kicked at the Blastoise's chest, dislodging the Pokemon's jaws and throwing the blue monster some feet away.

As he swooped down on his Charizard, Oak ignored the greater part of the battle and instead focused on Elm. In the seconds he had before impact, Oak tried to spot a break in his opponent's defenses as the younger professor's Pokemon dueled with the stalwart Alakazam, but no such opportunity presented itself. As barriers around the two psychic Pokemon leapt to life and died in spectacular displays of light and fire while beams of energy and ripples in the air pulsed between the Alakazam and the Metagross, Oak steeled himself as Ember tucked its wings and extended its claws.

Elm looked up with a spat curse and dove from his mount. Throwing himself to the ground as the Charizard bore down on him, Elm screamed. Ember's white claws tore into Elm's armor and raked the man's back. The professor bent over backwards as he hit the ground, growling obscenities while Oak turned in midair to come around for another pass.

"Fuck you!" Elm spat, his eyes flashing with fire as he snatched a pokeball from his belt. "Burn in hell you worthless shit!" He threw the ball to the ground where it snapped open.

Oak grit his teeth as he pulled back on his Charizard's reins to avoid the wall of light. He spurred his mount to fly higher as the blinding aurora swirled into a blue and red mass. Like thunder after a flash of lightning, a blasting roar split the air. A blue monster landed on the ground and craned its long neck. Stretching more than fifteen feet from its spined nose to the base of its whiplike tail, alone longer than the rest of its body and ending in a wicked blade, the Salamence locked its pale white eyes on its trainer.

"Kill him!" Elm demanded, pointing from his spot on the ground to the Charizard circling overhead. "I order you! Kill him!"

The dragon huffed out a smoky breath and roared again, the sound like porcelain grinding against steel. Throwing out its crimson wings the Salamence sprinted forward and leapt into the air. A heartbeat later it turned in midair and flung itself like a spear after the older professor as its wings sliced through the air. Oak looked over his shoulder and immediately began spurring Ember to climb faster.

"Hurry," Oak hissed, laying nearly flat against his mount's back as the Charizard heaved to climb higher. "If it catches us..."

Elm watched for a second as Oak retreated before the blue dragon, before taking a breath. He jumped in surprise as a half-ton of metal thudded to the ground before him. Elm's Metagross reeled from the telekinetic blow as Oak's Alakazam glared defiantly at the younger professor. Despite the battle closing in all around it, the Alakazam remained focused as Elm's Steelix bore down on and crushed the staggered Machamp and grievously wounded Venusaur. It focused as Elm's Ferraligatr and remaining Tyranitar hacked down Oak's Blastoise and Arbok. Even as the red Gyarados raged and crushed the last bit of life from Clair's Dragonite, the psychic Pokemon remained perfectly composed. A single pebble floated up from the ground. The Alakazam's eyes burned like a pair of blue suns as it stood alone and all of Elm's remaining Pokemon readied to tear it to shreds.

In an almost impossibly small fraction of time as Elm's world went quiet, the pebble disappeared in glint. Instantly the blue bubble around Elm shattered like a wall of dry sand struck by a hammer and a line of white light, originating from where the pebble once hovered and deflected by only the tiniest angle, cut into the professor's cheek.

Fire exploded along the line of light as Elm's world shook with a clap of thunder. An irresistible wave of pressure smashed the young professor to the ground like a boulder dropped from the sky even as the combined attacks of his Pokemon ripped Oak's Alakazam apart.

Unable to process what he watched, Elm rolled onto his back and growled in pain as his eyes stared at the sky. He could vaguely make out two shapes flitting about in the air, one in desperate retreat from the other, and he thought he remembered sending his Salamence to hunt down Professor Oak. Elm's bare fingers wandered touched his face as his faculties began to return.

"Shit," he growled when his fingers found that very little of the left half of his face remained. The pain had yet to catch up with him, but Elm's probing revealed that most of the flesh stretching from the top of his cheek to the bottom of his jaw had been stripped away, leaving exposed bone and, in a few lucky places, scraps of muscle. His left ear had also been blown off and the professor could only guess at how his eye had escaped destruction.

"Damn you, Oak," Elm's face went hard with rage that blotted out the growing pain. "Damn you!" he reached inside his armor and drew out a small tube. Pressing the tip of the tube to his face, Elm pushed a button and began spraying a thick orange foam over his destroyed cheek, ear, and jaw. Almost instantly the foam shriveled into a translucent orange film over the professor's wounds.

Up in the air, Oak risked a glance over his shoulder. Pain stabbed into the old man's chest as he looked passed the gaining dragon on his tail and saw Elm's battered but victorious forces on the ground. He expelled a breath in a wordless sob as his face broke and tears began running between his cheeks and the inside of the helmet. The Salamence caught up to the old professor's Charizard after a final burst of speed, and reached out, digging its claws into the red Pokemon's belly. Ember shrieked as the Salamence tore into its ribs with one clawed foot, and shredded the tendons at the base of one wing with the other.

The blue dragon, carried upwards by its inertia for only an instant, dug all of its claws and fangs into the Charizard, shredding the Pokemon around Oak and slashing the leather straps holding the old professor to his dead mount. Falling backwards and out of the saddle as his armor deflected the monster's claws, Oak went blind as his last Pokemon's blood splattered his visor. The old man flailed as he fell, unable to see through the blood and capable only of screaming for help. More than a minute of weightlessness went by, until all of Oak's senses exploded and utter numbness took him.

Elm, having spotted the dot in the sky by luck, watched as Oak fell from twelve thousand feet above the ground and landed on a bare stretch of earth some hundred yards away. The young professor could only imagine what the old man looked like, but guessed that the robust Cinnabarean armor now contained a soup.

"I did it!" the professor screamed, throwing his fists over his head and laughing to the skies. "I fucking did it! Hah," he jeered and started a little dance in celebration as his Salamence began its descent towards him. "Suck it old man! I win, you lose! Hah!"

Elm stood upright for a second, laughing and clapping his hands, ignoring the stinging in his slowly numbing cheek. "Hmph," he pumped his arms by his sides. "Finally got that bastard. Now," he turned and looked off towards the direction from which he'd come. "Where the hell did May get to?"


	30. Chapter 30

AN: Alright, out of the hospital and back to the laptop. On that note, you might never imagine just how bad for you a combination of extreme dehydration, fatigue, alcohol, and a caffeine overdose can turn out to be.

Also, the avid D&D Cleric in me is flattered by the folks who cooked up their own RPG based on this story. I'd be interested to see the system. Thanks guys, and I'll make no further (intentional) Fallout references- though as the author I reserve the right to insert a Firefly shout-out here and there.

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Chapter 30 – Sleeping Giants

"Looks like Dragon Company and Blaine's men took the forward trenches," Janine's voice hummed in Ash's ear. "I'm not seeing Blaine though... I don't think-"

"How are Clair and grandpa doing against Elm?" Ash asked, barely able to hear Janine over the dull hum of the wind outside his helmet. As he guided Charizard with a thought and a nudge, Ash surveyed the terrain below. He circled high enough to afford some warning should anyone attack, but near enough the ground to see anyone moving about. In the distance, Ash could make out the enormous mountain and could only imagine the battle raging in front of it.

_I should be there,_ he thought. _I should be helping them,_ Ash pictured Clair and Oak battling for their lives against Professor Elm, and fought to not resent his grandfather barring him from that battle.

"Looks like they're about even," Janine answered. "Clair's working on the Gyarados and Professor Oak just took down one of Elm's Pokemon. Found the apprentice yet?"

"Not yet," Ash answered, his tone bitter. "I don't think she's even-" he stopped as his thoughts refocused and his gaze shifted without his consent to an unremarkable patch of the blasted terrain's dry grass. For a split second Ash only stared, his eyes trying to find what he already sensed as he reached for his pack and pulled out his binoculars. Pressing them to his thick visor and squinting, Ash immediately noticed the small square of discolored dirt, the edges of a camouflaged blanket, and the figure laying partially beneath it. When his eyes adjusted to the lenses, Ash saw what he thought to be a girl dressed in brown armor and looking directly up at him through a pair of binoculars.

"Got her," Ash called into the radio, pulling on Charizard's reins and signaling the Pokemon to dive. "Keep me posted on the others."

"Will do," Janine's voice answered as the wind picked up and threatened to drown her out. "Ash, good luck."

Through the tinted visor, Ash saw the figure scurry out from beneath her blanket as he dove at her. Charizard abandoned all pretenses of stealth and roared a challenge as the ground raced up to meet the Pokemon and its trainer. They leveled off and swooped at the other person, Charizard opening its jaws and loosing a cone of flame that scorched the earth beneath it blacker as the Pokemon's target dove to one side and rolled away. A blast of white light illuminated her figure.

As Charizard snapped its wings to pull a turn that made Ash's sturdy saddle creak in protest, the other trainer leapt behind her newly unleashed Pokemon, a bipedal creature standing six feet tall. Balancing itself on two incredibly muscled legs, the Pokemon looked like none Ash had ever seen before. As the young Gym Leader circled and Charizard set down on the ground a dozen paces from the other trainer, Ash looked between the enemy Pokemon's clawed feet, taloned hands, and wickedly sharp beak.

The other trainer stepped out from behind her Pokemon, a pokeball in each hand, and looked across the stretch of ground between herself and Ash as the Gym Leader drew out a pokeball and readied to open it. For a second, both trainers stared at each other. Ash froze, finding himself overwhelmed with a sense of familiarity. As he met the other girl's startlingly blue eyes, Ash swore that he had met her somewhere.

"Oh," Ash muttered, all focus abandoning his features as realization dawned on him and he recalled his meeting with Professor Rowan's assistant months earlier. "Well that's interesting." he stated flatly.

"You must be Ash Ketchum," the girl cautiously stepped forward as both Ash and his Charizard looked on with no small measure of uncertainty. "Right?"

"You have me at a disadvantage," Ash spoke up, shaking himself to attention and taking another pokeball in his free hand as he pulled his legs from Charizard's saddle. _If she wants to talk and eat up time,_ the young trainer thought, _why not._

"I heard you were on your way," said the girl, her frame awkwardly stiff beside her Blaziken, though she inclined her head in a rough simulation of civility. "I'm May."

"Um," Ash folded his arms in front of his chest, forgetting he had a pokeball in either hand. "I'd say it's a pleasure if..." he tried to think of how to delicately frame the words, then abandoned the notion, "well, if I weren't here to kill you."

The young Gym Leader felt a tugging in the back of his mind as Haunter's voice hummed in his head. _She's like you,_ the ghost toned, staring intently across the empty stretch of ground. _Want to kill her?_

_No,_ Ash snapped without any thought. He glanced back at May, all desire to fight her draining out of him despite his best efforts to retain his fighting spirit. _Let's see where this goes._

"Who said we had to kill each other?" May answered, her demeanor thawing as she stepped back and relaxed her stance. "After all, you're only here to prevent me from entering the fight between Elm and Oak, correct?"

His eyes narrowing some, Ash remained quiet for a long minute, attempting to both occupy May with nonviolence for as long as possible, and divine her aim. As he began to think, Ash couldn't shake the notion that May didn't mean to hurt him and that she, like himself, found the idea of a fight less alluring by the moment. Finally he hopped off of Charizard and stepped in front of the growling beast.

"Alright," Ash said, snapping one pokeball to his belt and raising that hand to undo one of the fasteners on his helmet, though he left his other hand to hold a pokeball at the ready. "If you want to talk, we can talk."

"Awesome," May grinned, more easily this time as if some weight had lifted from the air. "Wow," she stopped short, taking a deep breath and exhaling as she put her hands on her hips. "For a second I thought you were going to attack me."

"I thought about it," Ash said, pulling off his helmet and resting it on his hip. "but I'm not in the mood to fight you right now." He smirked, the hair on the back of his neck rising a little. "Elm's a different story thought. He killed my mom and destroyed my home and I plan on seeing him dead. I hope that isn't a problem."

"Not at all," May put her hands in front of her chest. "As a matter of fact, you and I have a common goal."

"Oh?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"We both want Elm dead," May lowered her voice, carefully studying Ash for a reaction.

His mouth dropping open, Ash watched the girl watching him. "Bullshit," he muttered. "You're working with him."

"Only to pit him against Oak," May answered. "If he's busy facing his arch-enemy then it gives me a shot at his blindside."

Again pausing for a second, Ash reached up and adjusted the radio setting loosely on his ear. Janine's voice buzzed through the bit of plastic and Ash's frame grew more rigid as the sounds of battle reached him from the distance.

"I'm not following," said the young Gym Leader, his tone agitated. "Why would you want to go after Elm?"

"He killed my parents and my teacher," May stated, her voice growing tighter and her face twitching as though she struggled against the desire to spit, "indirectly. And the son of a bitch is arrogant enough to think he got away with it."

Ash shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said, disgust welling in the young Gym Leader's tone until he broke out in a grin and motioned off towards the direction from which he could hear explosions. "There's nothing stopping us from going and taking him down together right now, you know."

"Well, yes there is," May sighed, starting to visibly tense up again. "You see," she went on when Ash's passive posture began to mirror her aggressive one, "the only person I want to dead more than Elm is the man who actually killed my parents. I'm going kill Professor Oak, or at least see him dead, or die trying."

Ash's grip on his pokeball immediately tightened, and a growl behind him signaled that Charizard's attitude echoed its trainer's. "Now that's a problem," said the young Gym Leader. Though he was already sweating in the stiflingly humid heat, Ash's skin began going cold as adrenaline seeped into his system.

"I thought it might be, family and all," said May, her eyes watching Ash's every move as she stepped back behind her Blaziken, the animal beginning to hiss and kick its talons into the dirt.

Shaking and looking into the distance, Ash focused his attention on his radio.

"Ash," Janine's voice hummed in his ear. "The battle turned. Clair's dead and Professor Oak is trying to retreat. I don't think he's going to make it." She paused, waiting for a response as Ash went pale and fought to keep his expression blank. Several seconds passed by and Janine and May both remained silent, waiting for Ash to say something.

"Ash," Janine said at length, "if you're going to do something to help, you need to do it-" she broke off. "Oh god," said the girl, her voice catching. "Oh god he fell. Ash, Oak's falling. He's too far out. I can't save him."

Every muscle in his body locking up, Ash remained still, his face a blank and fragile. "Ash, he's gone," Janine's voice rang in his ears.

In a split second, Ash's whole frame shook once and wet still again so fast May wondered if she'd seen her potential opponent move at all. The young Gym Leader's throat bulged and he swallowed the lump as his hands balled into fists, the pokeball at his side creaking once under the pressure.

"Understood," Ash said, ostensibly calm and pretending the sweat he wiped from his brow had come as a result of the heat. "Stay safe," he answered the radio coolly, as if bile weren't burning in his gut. "Out."

May cleared her throat. "What?" she finally probed, still partially concealed behind her Pokemon. "News?"

With furious speed, Ash's eyes darted to the ground and twitched from right to left as his mind worked, completely tuning out Haunter's mental nudges and focusing all his willpower on a single line of thought. So quickly it made May jump, Ash looked up and locked his gaze on the girl opposite him.

"I'll make you a deal," Ash said, his neck straining as though he could barely keep his jaw from locking closed. "We'll let Elm and my grandpa have it out, while both of us watch. If my grandpa wins, then I'll..." he stopped briefly but made himself go on. "I'll stay out of it while you ambush him. He'll be weakened from the fight so you'll get a fair shot. But... if Elm wins, then you and I both ambush him and make him pay for what he's done to us," he gestured between May and himself. "It's about time we stood up for ourselves. Deal?"

"My turn to call bullshit," May muttered hardly loud enough for Ash to hear. "You'd never just sit back and let me ambush Oak while he's weak."

"I swear," Ash held his hands to his sides. "If my grandpa wins, I won't interfere if you attack him," he swallowed hard again and waited for several long seconds as May went quiet. "I'm gambling," the young trainer called out when May didn't answer. "But I promise, I'll keep my end of the bargain if you'll promise to help me kill Elm if he wins."

"Dangerous," said the girl. "You're playing a dangerous game," she called out. "But you've got a deal. If Elm kills Oak, I'll help you kill him in exchange for an open shot at Oak if he wins, on one condition."

"Name it," Ash barked, sweat beginning to roll down his red face as he threw himself back into Charizard's saddle without bothering to strap himself in.

"We travel together," the girl in brown armor called, snapping open a pokeball and leaping onto the forming beast's back not a second after the creature had fully materialized. "I don't want you disappearing and jumping me with Oak the second he wins."

Nodding as May took the reins of her heavyset Swellow and returned her Blaziken to its pokeball, Ash shouted that they had an accord and took Charizard's reins. Without further exchange, the two trainers launched their mounts into the air, neither person missing that the other guided their mount without words. Motioning to May and waiting for her to respond and follow his lead, Ash angled his Charizard closer to the ground, and the two trainers began skimming barely high enough over the ground to avoid the minor dips and rises in the terrain.

_Clever,_ Haunter's voice laughed in Ash's head, the metaphysical sound easily overpowering the noise of the wind. _Clever, clever, clever,_ the ghost cackled from the trainer's pack. _Trading the life of a dead man for the death of a live one. Very-_

_Shut it! _Ash mentally screamed at the ghost, silencing it instantly as the young trainer spurred his Charizard to greater and greater speeds. Tears rolled down Ash's face, making the space between his cheeks and the helmet even hotter and less comfortable. _Would you just fucking can it!_

_Sorry,_ Haunter toned from Ash's pack, going quiet immediately thereafter.

"Just be ready to kill Elm," Ash growled, unafraid of May hearing him through his helmet and over the wind. His bloodshot eyes focused on the nearing mountain as the distance shrank away before him. "I want his blood to boil in his fucking veins," he hissed.

SC

"I did it!" the professor screamed, throwing his fists over his head and laughing to the skies. "I fucking did it! Hah," he jeered and started a little dance in celebration as his Salamence began its descent towards him. "Suck it old man! I win, you lose! Hah!"

Elm stood upright for a second, laughing and clapping his hands, ignoring the stinging in his slowly numbing cheek. "Hmph," he pumped his arms by his sides. "Finally got that bastard. Now," he turned and looked off towards the direction from which he'd come. "Where the hell did May get to?"

The scarred man looked around, squinting one eye and noticing that the other refused to respond to his commands. "May!" he called out. "May!" he shouted louder, his Pokemon gathering around him as Elm stepped atop his Metagross, returned several of his to their pokeballs, and sat. "Whatever," the young professor scoffed, nodding towards a bare patch of earth not far off. "Go," he prodded his Metagross.

Listening almost as much to the distant sounds of battle as to his own chortling Elm, accompanied only by his Metagross and Salamence, easily located the small crater in the dirt where a roughly human shape clad in black armor lay in the center of the depression. Elm couldn't quite guess whether the flecks of gore scattered about the crater were human remains that had somehow escaped the sealed suit, or the leftovers of a Salamence killing a Charizard. Several minutes passed as Elm just stood over the body and drank in his own success.

"Make sure he's dead," Elm muttered, his tone growing serious for a moment. "Just in case."

For a second, Oak's body flashed blue and jolted into the air. A loud crack filled the air as a blue spark leapt between the Metagross and the body. As the breastplate shattered and red debris scattered across the ground, Oak's body dropped with a dull thud and lay absolutely still, no blood pulsing from the hole in its chest.

"Hmph," Elm smirked. "Better safe than sorry. Now really, where did May get to?"

"I'm right here," said the girl as she stepped out of the shadow of a rocky crag, many paces from Elm. May's camouflaged brown armor seemed to melt into existence as she walked. "You look terrible," she said flatly, taking a few steps closer, "but I take it you won?"

"Yes, and thanks so much for all your help," Elm sniffed, masking all but the hint of a sneer in his tone. "If you hadn't been here, I might have gotten hurt. Did you take care of Ketchum or did he get away?"

May smirked, her eyes growing a little wider as she took a pokeball in each hand. "Well, we can both be glad you didn't hurt yourself."

"May," Elm watched the girl intently, his eyes darting between the pokeballs in her hands as he began to reach for his own. "What are you doing?" he asked, setting one hand on one of the pokeballs at his belt. "There's-" he stopped and turned in his saddle as his Metagross growled. A bright yellow barrier whirled into existence behind the professor just as a purple cloud of miasma exploded out of the thin air only inches behind Elm.

Haunter's shrieking laugh pierced the uneasily calm afternoon as a pair of red eyes winked to life behind Elm. The man on the Metagross yelped in surprise and raised both arms in front of his head as a purple hand, wrapped in spiked chains and further armed with talons longer than knives, formed from the purple mist and reached out for him. The Metagross's metallic voice sounded a challenge and Haunter's hand recoiled from a blindingly bright flash of yellow light.

Still laughing, Haunter pushed his hand through the burst of energy, the light screen warping away from the ghost's onslaught. Frozen with shock, the air all around him going frigid, Elm didn't notice the flashes of bright white light exploding behind him. Instead all he could see was the disembodied hand closing around his neck and the two red eyes pulsing in front of him. His breath freezing in his throat as Haunter's hand closed around his neck and his Metagross locked up beneath him, Elm instinctively went to his belt and, more than grabbing at one of the red and white orbs, fumbled at his waist and knocked a pokeball from his belt.

The ball snapped open in a flash of light that swirled into a shape smaller than the professor's Metagross. Haunter growled in frustration and recoiled from the new Pokemon as it took form. Loosing a howl and shaking out its deathly pale fur, its coalescence complete, the Absol opened its flickering red eyes and leapt between Elm and the ghost. Both Pokemon hissed at the sight of the other, Haunter's body and second chain-wrapped hand forming out of the mist around its eyes as the Absol turned its head as if to threaten the ghost with its single ebony horn. Without wasting a second, Haunter bolted into the air like a violet flare.

Not an instant after the Absol arrived, Elm and his Salamence looked skywards as a thundering roar split the skies. An inky figure on the back of a glimmering red dragon dove out of the orange clouds and swooped at Elm like a plunging javelin. Shrieking a call of its own, the blue Salamence leapt into the air and opened its wings. An instant before the blue dragon could complete the first flap of its wings, the diving Charizard twisted in the air and snapped towards the sluggishly rising dragon. Colliding in midair with a bone-cracking crash, the two Pokemon and the trainer shot straight back down at the ground in a flurry of slashing talons, snapping jaws, and bursts of fire.

Atop his Charizard, Ash felt several dull impacts and raking blows across his chest and legs, lethal blows absorbed by his armor, and his hand snatched a pokeball from his magnetic belt. Screaming in fury, Ash threw the ball at the ground, even as he and the rest of the conflagration tumbled towards the baked earth below. With another crash that made his whole body ache and burn, Ash and the two dragons slammed into the ground as his pokeball snapped open and released a blast of light.

Rolling away from the Salamence as the impact broke the larger dragon's grip, Ash's Charizard flapped its wings, turned in midair and landed safely on the ground two dozen yards from the blue Pokemon. As the light Exploded into the shape of a massive dog beside Ash and his Charizard, Arcanine whipped its head towards the Salamence and howled a war cry.

"May!" Elm whirled around to face the girl, one hand going to the sickly black flesh that now ringed his neck. Instantly he grabbed the pokeballs at his belt and began throwing them to the ground. Releasing his Tyranitar and Feraligatr, Elm spotted May standing between her Blaziken and Venusaur. "What are you doing!"

"What does it look like?" May screamed, her eyes wild and dripping tears as all calm melted from her face. "You killed my parents and you killed Professor Birch," she threw another two pokeballs to the ground, "so now I'm going to kill you!" May motioned to Elm with a stabbing point as a Sceptile and a Mightyena leapt out of the clouds of light. "Kill him!" she shouted to her Pokemon, snatching her remaining pokeballs as the Sceptile and Blaziken shot forward like stones from a sling. "Kill that son of a bitch!"

Directing his Pokemon with an inarticulate shout, Ash, and Charizard beneath him bolted forward towards the Salamence. Arcanine lowered its frame to the ground and disappeared in a blur of scattered dust, materializing on the Salamence's flank and fearlessly throwing itself at the blue dragon. As Arcanine's jaws closed and its teeth struggled against the dragon's almost supernaturally resilient hide, the Salamence whirled on the red canine, opening its jaws to bite, only to be knocked back as Ash and Charizard barreled into the distracted blue Pokemon.

The Salamence roared in protest as Charizard's front claws sank into the joints between armored plates in the blue dragon's shoulders. Ash's mount whipped its head forward with a hiss and bit down on the blue Pokemon's skull, engulfing the left half of the Salamence's face in a toothy vice, fangs grinding against armor as Charizard's internal furnace roared to life. Orange flames burst from the gaps between the red dragon's teeth and the Salamence's carapace, searing the chinks Charizard's teeth had carved in the armor and making the making the Salamence's eyes go wide with sudden pain. Arcanine meanwhile circled around and launched itself at the blue Pokemon's tail, locking its jaws just below the bladed end of the appendage and clawing at the armored plates, both rending flecks from the tail and holding it out of the fight with Ash and Charizard.

His chest rumbling, Arcanine's eyes flared with an anger that mirrored his trainer's and the Pokemon flew into a rage. Even while the Salamence tried to lift Arcanine off the ground, the massive canine held the dragon's tail pinned to the ground and heaved out flames that scorched the Salamence's tail black.

Ripping a heavy steel knife from behind his back, Ash roared and threw himself forward in the saddle, leaning over Charizard and hacking downwards. The tip of the blade landed exactly where he aimed, finding the tear Charizard had left in the blue Pokemon's shoulder. Meeting enough resistance to stop the blade, Ash tore it free and plunged it down again, his head burning with fury as hot as the dragon flames sizzling all about him. The knife pierced through and cut muscle, lodging itself in bone and prompting a second screech from the Salamence as the blue Pokemon flew into a berserk panic.

The Blaziken's kick smashed into the Metagross's shimmering blue barrier, sending dozens of cracks splintering throughout the hovering pane. As the avian Pokemon hissed ad wheeled around for a second attack, its foot began to glow, and exploded in a blast of fire on impact, sending shards of the shattered barrier flying in all directions, and knocking Elm from his Pokemon's with the force of the shockwave. The professor looked up from the ground, stunned by the scene as his Metagross began furiously trying to cope from a withering onslaught from May's Pokemon. Razor edged leaves spun through the air, fire wheeled and shot from May's Blaziken as its kicks pummeled the metal Pokemon.

"Shit!" Elm screamed, raising his hand in front of his face just as he saw the Mightyena. Pain lanced through his arm as the Pokemon's jaws closed down on his elbow, avoiding the sturdy armor and cutting into the thinner fabric. The hairy beast's fangs punched into Elm's skin and the Pokemon began shaking its head this way and that, threatening to rip the appendage free of Elm's shoulder. "Get off!" he wrenched himself around and kicked the Mightyena in the muzzle, breaking its grip and sending the Pokemon staggering to one side.

"Thanks for sending me out as bait for Ash," May grinned, her face an ever changing canvas of dissonant smirks and sneers. "This would have been a lot harder otherwise." She reached out and put her hand on the Mightyena as it returned to her side and Elm stood, clutching his arm. Both trainers watched for a second as Elm's Metagross began giving ground. "Kill him!" May ordered, throwing out her hand.

"No you don't!" Elm shouted, throwing a pokeball to the ground an instant before the Mightyena charged. "Treacherous little bitch!" he went on as the ball snapped open and released a tower of light that reared up to a massive height. "You'll pay for this!"

With no small measure of frustration, May watched as the colossal red Gyarados began taking shape. She glanced towards Ash as he and his Pokemon continued battling the Salamence, then refocused her attention on the Gyarados and threw pokeball to the ground. "Venusaur!" the girl shouted as her Pokemon formed and the air all around exploded with the red Gyarados's cry. "Aim for its eye!"

Looking up, the heavy green Pokemon growled and began shaking the flowing tree atop its back. Just as the Gyarados finished emerging from the ball, it turned its head towards the ground and spotted the Venusaur with its remaining eye. Stamping its feet, May's Venusaur gave the tree on its back a final shake and a volley of green blades shot from the plant and raced towards the Gyarados. The huge Pokemon turned its face away and the Razor Leaves thumped into its carapace, drawing blood but otherwise doing minimal damage.

"This'll be rough," May mumbled, seeing Elm going for two of the remaining balls at his belt.

Ash released his grip on Charizard's saddle and dropped to the ground with a thud as his two Pokemon continued grappling with Elm's Salamence. Flames from all sides roared to life and died in plumes of smoke that raced skywards in the updrafts created by the heat of the hellish battle. The young trainer's breath further quickened as he locked his eyes on his target and drew a second knife from the pouch above his ankle, holding a blade tip down in each hand.

"I've had enough of this!" he spat through gritted teeth. "Enough!" Ash bellowed, charging forward just as the Salamence threw off Charizard and turned on the young Gym Leader.

Ash ran, sucking in a breath as the Salamence opened its jaws and roared out a cone of green fire. The flames washed over Ash, bending around his armor like a flowing cloak or a set of wings, and engulfing the trainer in a cloak of light. Screaming and barely able to make out the shape of the dragon's head, Ash jumped and swung one arm towards the Salamence's skull. His leap pulled him from the fire and Ash found himself right before the Salamence's face as his attack hit home and the tip of his knife plunged into the dragon's red eye.

The blue monster wretched back and Ash used the momentum from his jump and swung himself up onto the Salamence's neck as it flailed backwards and spewed fire that swirled around the monster like a cape. Straddling the dragon's neck and driving his knife ever deeper into the monster's eye socket, Ash swung with his other arm and drove the second knife towards the Pokemon's remaining eye. When the blade recoiled from the armored lid, Ash abandoned his first knife and left it where it stuck. Ignoring the heat beginning to eat through his armor, he grabbed the horn on the monster's nose and jerked its head back and its jaws open. Leaning forward and gritting his teeth as his hands grew searingly hot in the furnace of the Salamence's mouth, Ash slipped the knife between the monster's teeth, pressed the point against the roof of the Salamence's mouth. He took the grip in both hands.

"Die!" Ash screamed, heaving and pulling the knife up and towards his chest as he pressed his breastplate against the back of the dragon's head. Ash felt a grinding resistance and roared, pulling harder as the Salamence shrieked. A tremor ran through the blue dragon as the blade of Ash's knife jerked and cut through the roof of its mouth. The Salamence's eye went wide and glassy as the Pokemon immediately dropped to the ground in a twitching mass, taking Ash and Arcanine down in a cloud of dirt kicked up by mindlessly flailing wings.

Whirling around at the death cry, Elm just caught his Salamence going down and throwing up a cloud of dirt. For a second the professor watched and hoped, ignoring as his other Pokemon vied for an advantage over May's darting skirmishers, only for his heart to drop and his breath to catch as the dust cleared. Ash rose out of the haze, standing in front of the dead dragon, with both of his battered but ready Pokemon stepping to his flanks.

Drawing a deep breath, Ash pulled the helmet from his head and threw it to the ground, the fresh air washing over his sweat drenched features and filling his lungs as he met the blank stare on Elm's face with a steely glare. He ignored the Tyranitar at Elm's side and smiled, a wicked glint in his eye, towards the young professor.

"You're not human," Elm's voice quivered. "What the fuck are you!" he yelled, sweat beading on his brow.

Without a word, Ash raised the knife with which he'd killed the Salamence. Pausing as the sounds of battle between May and the red Gyarados raged, Ash flicked the weapon to the ground, flexed his hands, and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," the young trainer faced Elm, his voice carrying over the wind to the professor. As Elm's features hardened, Ash glanced between Charizard and Arcanine before turning back to the professor. "You killed my mother, destroyed my home, and murdered my grandfather. Today, you die."

"Kill him!" Elm's voice broke as he grabbed a pokeball from his belt and threw it to the ground. "Stop him, stop him now!" Elm raised his wrist up to the side of his face and pressed a button on the small transmitter concealed in his armor. "Backup!" the professor shouted into the mic on his hand, recoiling from the palpable waves of murderous intent radiating from Ash. "I need backup now!"

"Attack!" Ash ordered, spurring Charizard and Arcanine forward even as the fountain of light erupting from Elm's pokeball materialized into a giant Steelix.

Charizard wasted no time in swooping towards the monstrous snake's face, loosing a hissing spray of magma that clung to the Steelix. Even as the steel Pokemon recoiled from the surprise attack, Charizard wheeled about and again opened its jaws, spewing a blast of red fire that slammed into the Steelix's skull and turned its hide orange. Blinded by the napalm sticking to its elongated face, the Steelix swung wildly with its tail and thrashed its head this way and that. Each attack met nothing but empty air however, either missing Charizard completely or moving too slowly and allowing the flighted Pokemon ample time to dodge.

Arcanine meanwhile rushed at Elm as the professor threw himself behind his Tyranitar. The man gasped when Arcanine appeared from nothing in front of him. The resounding snap of cracking armor rung in the professor's ears as Arcanine's jaws closed around his raised forearm. Bits of hardened white plastic flew from between Arcanine's teeth as Elm's armor gave. The Pokemon snarled and wrenched its head around, throwing Elm to one side and sending the man tumbling away as the Tyranitar realized what was happening and turned to face the massive canine.

"Ash," Janine's voice buzzed over the radio, interference making her hard to make out. "A bunch of trainers - broke away from the battle - are headed your way. You - three minutes tops. I'm going to-"

"Stay hidden," Ash ordered. "May!" he turned to the other girl. "We've got trouble coming in three minutes!" He refocused when May acknowledged him with a quick nod.

"But I can-" Janine tried to interrupt.

"Stay out of the way!" Ash barked. Tearing the radio from his ear and throwing it to the ground, his eyes still alive with a cruel flicker as he watched the battle unfolding before him. He turned and spotted May moving back as her Blaziken, Venusaur, and Sceptile traded glancing blows and near misses with the Gyarados and Metagross. Now that they'd moved a ways away from the rest of the fight, Ash could see Haunter and Elm's Absol darting and swirling about the side of a hill in a deadly dance of chains, miasma, and crackling bolts of black energy. Arcanine, Mightyena, and Blastoise all teamed up on the Tyranitar, picking it slowly apart with blow after blow, chipping away its defenses while Charizard continued accosting the Steelix with scalding bursts of flame.

"Time to play," Ash muttered, picking his last two pokeballs from his belt and throwing them to the ground. "A week is plenty of time to sleep."

Splitting open and spilling a flood of light, the balls snapped back to Ash's hand. As they materialized from the energy, the two massive blue Pokemon dropped to the ground and growled as their forms finished taking shape. The smaller Pokemon, Ash's new Blastoise, turned and spotted the trainer for which it had once fought long ago, acknowledging him with a low and respectful growl.

The second Pokemon towered more than nine feet tall as it stood up straight. Beneath deep blue fur and thick blubber, muscles like layer upon layer of steel cable flexed as the Snorlax pivoted on one massive foot and looked at the trainer. For a second the Snorlax looked between Ash and its own hands, newly armed with thick claws. Its substantial belly expanded as it took a heaving breath and growled, dropping to all fours and glaring at Ash with a combination of simmering anger and growing hunger.

"I'm calling the shots," Ash stepped forward, ignoring the rest of the battle and placing himself less than a full pace from the Pokemon's snarling maw. "You'll do as I say. Got it?" he barked, meeting the Snorlax;s dark eye with a frigid glare.

The Snorlax sniffed, opening its inky eyes a little wider, before heaving itself back to its feet and turning around with a snarl.

"Good," Ash muttered. He stepped forward, nodded to Arcanine's stalemate fight with Elm's green Tyranitar, and patted his Blastoise on the back of its shell. "Take that bastard down."

Blastoise took a heavy step forward and dropped a shoulder, aiming one water cannon at the Tyranitar. Grunting against the recoil the Pokemon heaved and shot a blast of water towards the fray as Arcanine, spotting the attack, leapt back. The Tyranitar turned its head from its withdrawing opponent just in time to spot the missile of water. Slammed by the attack, green Pokemon staggered back and dropped to all fours.

Elm looked from the fight between his Steelix and Ash's Charizard to see what had happened to his Tyranitar, when he spotted Ash and the new Pokemon standing beside him. "Oh come on," the professor whined, his mouth dropping open a little as he looked at the Snorlax beside the younger trainer. "Not fair..."

"Now," Ash turned to the massive Pokemon waiting before him as his Blastoise and Arcanine charged the Tyranitar. He pointed towards the Gyarados as May fell back even farther and Snorlax's breathing grew deeper and faster, mirroring Ash's boiling emotion. "Kill it."

Roaring and heaving itself forward, the Snorlax took a few slow paces towards the distracted Gyarados, accelerating with each step, until it charged the bigger monster in a reckless assault. Turning away from May and her forces at the noise, the Gyarados saw the incoming attack, felt the ground shaking beneath the charge, and turned to meet it head on. Announcing itself with a cry trembling with fury, Ash's Snorlax crashed into the Gyarados's flank like a freight train. Despite its smaller size, the Snorlax's body slam threw the red monster completely off balance.

As the Gyarados recovered and turned on the Snorlax, opening its mouth wide, the shorter Pokemon stepped in and thrust its clawed hands at the other monster's armored hide like spears. The enormous force behind each blow as Snorlax lent all its weight to both attacks drove Snorlax's claws into the Gyarados's armor. With both its paws buried in the spitting wounds, Snorlax looked up with a growl of defiance as the Gyarados's head came down. Fangs dug into Snorlax's hide, hesitating on but slicing through the monster's tough shoulder and sinking to the gumline into flesh. With a quick flick of its lower body, the Gyarados spun around Ash's Snorlax and wrapped the Pokemon in its iron coils, bringing the Snorlax to its knees.

Muscles trembling, Snorlax clenched its eyes and ripped its claws from the Gyarados's armor, spattering both Pokemon in a spray of gory debris. Roaring and heaving itself up, the Snorlax pushed up to its feet, lifting the massive red Gyarados free of the ground. Still wrapped in the sea serpent's coils, searing pain and burning breath tearing into its shoulder, Snorlax set its eyes on a small crag of rock only fifty yards away. With a plodding step and colossal effort, it moved closer to the crag and gained the momentum to take a second step and gain more momentum. During the third step, the Snorlax had leaned into its infant charge, and dug its claws into the Gyarados's armor, ensuring no escape.

Another two steps and Snorlax had reached a run, every move it made shook the ground and tore a deep print in the earth as the Gyarados struggled around it. Reaching up with one paw, Snorlax planted its claws at the base of the Gyarados's skull and pulled forward, ripping the monster's fangs from its shoulder and bringing the Gyarados's head down lower. Bellowing, Snorlax closed its eyes, threw itself forward and smashed into the crag. Hammering the red monster's skill between bone and rock, Snorlax demolished the rock formation, boring into the stone and disappearing in a cloud of dust and a thundering cascade of debris.

"Yeah!" Ash hissed, bringing his fist in front of his face. "Demolish it!" He whirled to May who had, in the Gyarados's absence, turned all her attention on Elm's Metagross. His confident smirk grew even wider as he saw blue barriers around the Pokemon forming and shattering in quick succession as May's Pokemon unleashed a withering hail of flaming darts, buzzing leaves, and bone shattering kicks on the Metagross.

Elm's breathing grew rapid as he watched his defenses crumble around him. "No," he grumbled, turning first to where his Metagross continued losing ground, then to his Tyranitar as the Pokemon succumbed to Ash's unrelenting onslaught and dropped to a knee. "No, no, no, no," his voice faded to a rasp as Ash's Charizard landed atop his battered Steelix's head.

Digging its claws into the grooves in the Steelix's cranium, Charizard sucked in a huge breath, fueling its internal caldera to a raging boil. Opening its jaws to a seemingly unnatural angle, Charizard vomited up a glowing sludge of lava. The pressure of the infernal weapon sprayed the burning orange mixture with little less force than a blast from one of Blastoise's canons and the superheated sludge carved its way into the Steelix's weakening skull. As its Stomach visibly contracted to maintain the attack, Charizard clung fast while the Steelix threw itself to the ground with a crash. An instant later with an audible splash, Charizard's hellish attack breached the Steelix's skull. White sparks and a spray of molten metal splashed across Charizard's scales as flames burst from the dead serpent's eye sockets. The lava quickly ate through the roof of the Steelix's mouth and began pooling around its head as it melted trenches and rivulets through the monster's jaw.

A screeching roar split the air, making Ash's ears ring as Charizard threw its head back in a triumphant cry. All eyes turned to the dragon as it stooped over its dead enemy, its red eyes darting between its next set of targets. His own chest swelling with the unimaginable pride felt by his Pokemon, Ash turned back to Elm as the professor's Tyranitar went sown.

Arcanine, his teeth grinding against the monster's ankle, yanked the Tyranitar's last leg from beneath it and brought the creature to the ground with a thud. Instantly May's Mightyena leapt in, snapping its jaws and tearing into the weaker flesh lining the exhausted Tyranitar's armpit. Blood splashed as the small canine shredded an artery and, driven to a frenzy by the smell, taste, and sight of blood, tripled its efforts to free the Tyranitar's arm of its body. Howling and trying to thrash about, the Tyranitar moved to defend itself, but found Arcanine's weight pinning its other arm. Laying prostrate, pinned by Arcanine, fatigue, and its own armor, the green Pokemon could do little to struggle as Arcanine and Mightyena took it apart. Blastoise watched with only cursory interest as the pack hunters finished the work and the Tyranitar stopped moving.

"This isn't fair!" Elm screeched, eyes wide, able to do nothing but watch as a Blaziken and Sceptile slipped passed his Metagross's defenses.

Vines whipped around the steel Pokemon's four legs, immobilizing the Metagross as Sceptile anchored it to the ground. Its reserves of psychic energy depleted, the Metagross had no barriers with which to block Blaziken's attack. It's foot bursting into flame, May's Blaziken spun through the air like a top, roundhouse kicking the Metagross square between its eyes. The metal X on the Pokemon's forehead deformed and shattered under the blow, the Metagross's entire frame shaking like a struck gong as it dropped motionless to the ground.

"We don't have much time before his reinforcements arrive," Ash muttered, his tone grave and contrasting with the grin glued to his face.

"I was ambushed!" Elm screamed, turning as Ash's Snorlax emerged from the rubble of the crag and began lumbering towards the rest of the Pokemon. "I was betrayed!" Elm's glare flashed between Ash and May as Charizard climbed from the Steelix's corpse and stalked on all fours up beside Ash. "This isn't fair! You all cheated, waited until I was off guard!"

May sauntered forward, a sway in her hips and a confident smirk on her lips. "I learned from the best. And if I've only got a minute left, then I've got a lot of revenge to extract... more than he'll survive," she put a hand on her side and looked at the professor, then at Ash. "That is, unless you wanted a crack at him fist?"

"Wait!" Elm shouted, putting up a hand. "I'm more good to you alive! If- if- if you kill me you'll never know how to stop Mewtwo from destroying the Elite Four and taking over!" a desperate smile flitted across the man's features.

"Ha!" Ash laughed once, catching himself completely by surprise. He put one hand in front of his mouth and looked across the scorched earth at the defeated trainer. He didn't flinch when Haunter appeared by his side, form somewhat less substantial though still garbed in wickedly edged and barbed chains, and reported that the Absol fled at the sight of the lost battle.

"What's that?" May asked, her attention temporarily snagged by the ghost's arrival. "A friend?"

Ash nodded without further response, still watching Elm.

The professor balled his outstretched hand into a fist. "We can stop him together! My armies and yours against his! We couldn't lose. You'll never beat him without my help so, what do you say?"

Ash stood there for a second, scrutinizing the shaking professor's features. "You know what?" the young Gym Leader muttered, a grin still clinging to him as a deeply satisfied sigh welled in his chest. "I'm damned tired of being manipulated so I think I'll pass on that." He looked over at May. "He's all yours."

"Wait!" Elm stretched his hands out to the girl in the armor. "May, everything I did, I did to help you! To protect you! I wan to help you get your family's power back!"

Smile fading to a disgusted snarl, May shook, her whole frame twitching. "Go to hell you lying fuck," she spat before turning to her Blaziken and waving her hand at Elm. "Waste him."

"Mercy-" Elm spit the word, his plea cut short as May's Blaziken shot forward like a striking viper. Foot swinging through the air like a sledgehammer, the Pokemon's attack carried on as though it met no resistance after it struck Elm's temple. His skull shattered in a splash of different reds and grays, and the professor's body rolled over to one side as Blaziken followed through and stepped away from the corpse.

Both of the trainers stood there for a quick second, looking intently at the body as blood pooled around the neck.

"Well," May said, her tone dropping lower as she let out a breath. "Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

"Yep," Ash nodded, walking the few paces to where he'd dropped his helmet and picking up his radio. Hearing a voice buzzing through the receiver, he quickly slipped it over his ear.

"-came out of nowhere!" Janine was yelling at him. "Ash, I don't know if you're listening, but a bunch of trainers just flew in from nowhere and attacked the Johtans. A bunch are headed towards you and I'm headed your way."

"Wait," Ash called into the radio, putting one hand to his ear to get a better sound. "Whose headed this way? Janine? Can you-" Turning around as a hiss from Charizard drew his attention, Ash followed his Pokemon's gaze skywards as several dots appeared beneath the clouds, speeding towards the two trainers. "Ah," he muttered. "Those must be Elm's reinforcements."

"Fight or flee?" May asked, looking towards the approaching trainers.

"How about-" Ash began to jog for Charizard's saddle, and got so far as to place one hand on the pommel of the seat, before stopping short. He watched with no lack of surprise as a second group of flying Pokemon emerged from the burned clouds behind the first, flying at breakneck speeds. "Neither..." he muttered, staring as the sky briefly erupted in jets of flame and bolts of electricity. A second later the sounds of crackling energy and thudding explosions reached him. Simultaneously he felt a tug in the back of his mind. "Maybe we should let this play out..."

Looking on as most of the trainers in the first group were either scattered or knocked from the sky, anticipation beyond any Ash had ever felt began gnawing at his gut. The young trainer's mouth went dry and his skin grew cold as the new arrivals neared. Some part of his mind froze as it realized what the rest of Ash's consciousness failed to grasp. Beside the young Gym Leader, May stood just as stunned with curiosity and odd familiarity.

A moment later the arriving trainers, most Ash could now see rode Pidgeot's and Fearows, with a few being mounted on Charizards set down a stone's throw from where Ash stood. One Pokemon in particular, an enormous winged beats with grey skin, sharp features, and a twenty-five foot wingspan, drew Ash's attention. Sitting atop the beast Ash only then recognized as an Aerodactyl, a creature supposedly extinct for generations, a man in a pinstriped suit readjusted the fedora hat setting on his head.

May relaxed some when the new trainers, all of them wearing black uniforms with crimson accents on their sleeves, made no threatening maneuvers, but Ash stood as transfixed as ever. The Aerodactyl stooped low to the ground and its trainer dismounted the colossal monster. Motioning for the rest of the trainers to remain where they were, the man stepped closer to Ash and May, leaving his guards behind and stopping only fifteen feet or so from Ash.

"How about that," said the man in the suit, removing his fedora and holding it against his chest. "I'd planned on being here to help with Elm, but it looks like you already took care of that," he addressed Ash directly in a friendly, if cool, tone. "That's no surprise however," the man went on, stepping closer without a hint of fear of the monsters all around as Arcanine sidestepped slowly to flank the new arrival. "You always had too much of my side of the family in you."

Ash shook as the words hit him like a left hook, his memory flooding with images of his mother.

_Giovanni,_ Delia's voice rang through Ash's memory like a bell as flashes and shadowy images played before the boy's mind. _That's his name, _his mother's words continued as Ash stood, forced by his own mind to view inky scenes: old, old memories long buried and barely alive, of a tall man standing next to Delia and whispering something before stepping out a door. The shadow man stopped there and turned back, giving Ash one good look at him. _He's a good man, he watches out for people, and he never, ever gives up, _Delia said as Ash saw the face of the man standing in his memory, the face of the man standing less than ten feet in front of him.

"You..." the young trainer muttered, his mind numb.

"Ash," Giovanni paused, his face grim as he visibly swallowed. "Hello son. I think we should have a talk."


	31. Chapter 31

AN: Alright, so I was a little late on this one, but in my defense I had a lot on my plate. I've been fighting like mad to get a job that doesn't involve kissing customers' asses all day, but such positions are hard to come by when everyone else wants the too. Fortunately, I am now in the top running for a much cushier (and better paying) position in the public sector. Hooray!

It's nice to know that the last chapter was generally well received. I tried to make it as fun to read as it was to write.

Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 31 – Like Father, Like Son

Ash cleared his throat and took a shaking step forward, only now remembering the fatigue eating away at his legs. His eyes quickly roamed over the contingent of trainers and flighted monsters before him, before coming to rest on the man claiming to be Giovanni.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked, unsure of what else to say.

"My job," Giovanni stated flatly, the long coat hanging over his shoulders beginning to flap about, revealing the plates of grey armor hanging around his body as a hot wind picked up from the west. "I'm here on business."

Ash grimaced and took another pace forward. "And what exactly is your job?" his tone grew icier. "If it's making my life as fucking miserable as possible, congratulations."

"I'm not here to fight you," Giovanni raised his hands to his sides. "I just want to talk."

"Fight you?" Ash growled. "I should do a lot more than that. I should," the young Gym Leader's briefly dormant anger began to reawaken, only to die down again when Ash noted just how many armed trainers surrounded Giovanni, "probably avoid doing anything stupid."

"Before anyone does anything," May broke in, stepping beside Ash as several of the mounted trainers shifted in their saddles, "maybe we should all go somewhere more comfortable, then decide if we want to kill each other..." she trailed off as several hard looks fell on her. "Maybe?" Again she glanced around at the small army of trainers and monsters.

"Ash," Giovanni's tone dropped again. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances after everything that's happened, but I can explain..." the man's face grew tense and he folded his hands behind his back. "Please," he went on. "I'm only asking for a chance to talk."

Ash remained silent for a moment, either unaware or unconcerned with the numerous pairs of eyes warily watching his every move as he glared at Giovanni. The young trainer shifted and started to open his mouth as if to say something, but a movement from within the crowd of trainers silenced him. From within the ranks of soldiers in red and black stepped a man in a white coat. Putting some distance between himself and the numerous beasts at his flanks, perfectly bald head catching a glint of sunlight, the man sniffed through his white toothbrush mustache and stepped up next to Giovanni.

"If you two are quite done," the man in the lab coat grunted, the skin above his opaque black glasses crinkling and betraying a frown, "or even if you're not, we shouldn't linger here. Someone's yet to inform the Johtans they've lost so there might be more about." He stopped and turned on Ash. "I'm going to my Gym and you are all... welcome to join me."

"Blaine?" Ash prodded for clarification. "It's good to know you're-"

"Yes, yes," the bald Gym Leader cut Ash short, not a hint of amusement or amicability in his tone. "I know you're here only for my research and my name for your crusade, so don't feign concern. Away with us. This day's dragged on far long enough," he turned and walked back towards the crowd.

Somewhat stunned, Ash shook his head and collected himself as Blaine slung one leg over a Charizard. "Well," the young Gym Leader muttered. "That was... abrupt. Is he always like that?" he turned reflexively to Giovanni with the question, only an instant thereafter consciously recoiling from the man.

"Pretty much," said the man in the suit, turning back to his son. "Listen, I really don't mean..." he trailed off, face again filling with uncertainty.

"Hey," Ash looked away, put his hand to the radio at his ear, and waited for Janine to respond before he went on. "Meet us back at the fort in the mountain. I found Blaine. He's intact." He paused and grinned at the girl's response. "See you there," he said, features lightening greatly. "Out." Ash let his hand drop back to his side and faced Giovanni, eyes instantly going hard again. "You're lucky... I'm done starting fights today," he stated flatly. "We'll talk at the Gym but I'm not promising anything."

The Gym Leader in the suit reached up and smoothed his thick hair back with the palm of his hand. He simply nodded to Ash then looked to May. "The name's Giovanni Ketchum, and you must be Norman's daughter, May," he inclined his head politely and pressed his hat to his chest. "It's a pleasure to meet you under such pleasantly... pleasant circumstances."

Clearing her throat, May extended her hand and shook Giovanni's. "Team Rocket's Leader," she grinned. "I'd heard quite a bit about your organization even before coming to the mainland. I understand you have quite a lot of resources at your disposal." She smirked.

"Ay," said the man in the suit, a little grin on his lip. "Now spent, mostly."

"Ill-gotten, mostly," Ash chimed in under his breath and scowled.

"Well," May crossed her arms, "for a while now I've been planning on returning to Hoenn and reclaiming my family's fortunes. Maybe you and I can make an arrangement."

Ash put his hand over his face.

Shouting from the gathering of trainers to get everyone's attention, Blaine waved at Giovanni. "Hey! I'm leaving, now!"

Giovanni sighed and shook his head. "We can all talk back at the Gym," he said, looking between Ash and May. "There's a lot of ground to cover."

Returning to his Pokemon, Ash quickly ran his hands through Arcanine's mane, scratching the energetic dog behind his ears and thanking him for all his work. After going through his Pokemon and thanking each in turn, Ash returned all but Charizard to their pokeballs and jumped into the dragon's saddle as May mounted a blue Swellow and strapped herself into the saddle. Giovanni returned to the trainers waiting for him and climbed atop the Aerodactyl.

"So that's your dad," May prodded as Giovanni and Team Rocket's soldiers took to the skies in a flurry of dust.

"I guess," Ash growled as he took Charizard's reins in one hand and hefted his black helmet with the other.

May turned in her saddle to look at Ash as the young Gym Leader hesitated. "Aren't you excited to meet him?"

"Why should I be?" Ash answered, watching as the flying beasts shrank into the orange sky before disappearing into the sooty clouds hanging over the gym and trenches. "All he's ever been to me is an enemy."

"The way I understand it, people like us," May gestured between herself and Ash, "we tend to just understand each other. I don't have any bad feelings about the man," she nodded towards the distance.

"How do you know he's like us?" Ash didn't look at her.

"You mean you can't feel it?" asked the girl in the armor.

"No," Ash shook his head. "I definitely felt it."

"So there you have it, besides," May continued, "he's your dad. If I had a chance to talk to mine-"

"Fucking my mom doesn't make him my father," Ash barked. He shoved his helmet down over his head, kicking his heels into Charizard's sides and spurring the dragon to charge forward with a roar and leap into the air. Sucking in a breath as May followed after him, Ash turned and looked towards the ground. Immediately he spotted the shallow crater where his grandfather's body lay. "Damn it," Ash swore under his breath, head beginning to spin. "Damn it all."

Straining against the urge to go and pay some kind of last respect to his grandfather Ash made himself decide he saw no reason to return to bury the body. The burning ache left in his chest by the decision did little to blot out the growing anxiety building over the immanent conversation with Giovanni.

Rising high on an updraft and weaving around the plumes of smoke rising from the battlefields, Ash, May, and the other trainers sped for the gym. Blaine, leading the procession, guided his mount towards the mouth of the volcano which, Ash saw as he neared, had built into its structure a yawning cave mouth that lead into an expansive chamber. Flying into the man-made cave the flock of mounted trainers came grinding to a halt in a cavern that bore a great number of smaller caves dotting its walls. Here and there Ash saw a few other trainers flying to and from the many caves within the rookery.

Spotting a flicker of movement from the corner of the rookery, Ash jumped eagerly down from Charizard, just in time to catch Janine in a bear hug and spin her around once as she launched herself at him.

"Miss me?" Ash asked, regaining some semblance of balance.

Janine nodded.

"As you are guests," Blaine called out, hopping down from his Charizard, "should you wish to keep your Pokemon here and not in their pokeballs, feel free to do so. Many creatures prefer the openness of the roosts so make yourselves at home. You three," the man with the mustache gestured harshly between Giovanni, Ash, and Janine. "I believe we have matters you'll sooner or later insist on discussing. Shall we pull that tooth now or would you prefer to rest?"

Janine turned sharply towards the bald scientist, studying him for a second as Ash let her go. "Now would be good," she looked between Ash and Blaine, only then spotting the man in the pinstripe suit, her eyes instantly going cold as her brow furrowed into a frown.

"Easy," Ash put his hand on her arm, his voice barely above a whisper. "I said I'd give him a chance to talk."

"That's Giovanni," Janine breathed, not taking her eyes off the tall man. "He'll know where Koga is hiding," her face hardened. "Just let me beat-"

"We're surrounded," Ash's grip tightened as he hissed in the girl's ear. "Save it for when we wouldn't instantly die."

Politely freeing her arm from Ash's grip, Janine sighed. "Fine," she muttered. "You're right. Sorry."

"I had the same thought, believe me," Ash whispered, looking over at his father as the man in the suit casually conversed with May.

"Schweigen!" Blaine barked, startling everyone present, save Giovanni. He turned around with a flare of his coat and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked. "Jabbering like old women! Disgraceful. I'll be in my laboratory if any of you care to discuss real business."

"Old dogs," Giovanni smiled, turning back to May. He took her hand and kissed the backs of her fingers. "Begging your pardon, but Blaine's not a patient man. We can discuss your future with Team Rocket as soon as I'm done."

From a distance, Ash shook his head.

"Of course," May nodded, putting one hand behind her head and blushing brightly. "Sure thing. Just, whenever. I'll find somewhere to hang out."

Giovanni turned and walked towards Ash and Janine, prompting both trainers to face him directly and stiffen. He took his hat in one hand and tipped it towards them. "Shall we," he asked, "before Blaine's good humor runs out?"

Ash nodded without answering as Janine hooked her arm around his elbow. The young trainer's eyes narrowed as he studied the man in the suit, tracking Giovanni as he walked past the two trainers and followed behind Blaine. Without a word Ash and Janine turned and kept pace, following the other men through a wide hall carved from dark stone and lit by windows set high in the towering walls.

"Look at that," Janine muttered, pulling Ash's arm a little and looking up.

As he walked, Ash's eyes followed Janine's gaze up the walls, and after a moment of searching and trying to interpret what he saw, Ash's mouth dropped open a little. "Wow," he muttered. Flat, featureless walls rose perhaps ninety to one hundred feet over Ash's head before narrow but enormously tall windows broke the flat surfaces. At that point buttresses and supports crisscrossed the upper reaches of the massive chamber, made from the same dark stone as the walls and illuminated by the amber light flooding in through the windows. Only then did Ash realize that he couldn't see the ceiling for the orange haze lingering around the windows.

"Those are clouds," Ash said, no small amount of wonder in his tone as he watched the amber haze drift lazily from one side of the upper reaches to the other and flow out the opposite windows. "There are clouds up there."

"This way," Janine whispered, tugging Ash's arm to get him back on course as he walked with his head up. The pair turned to follow Giovanni and Blaine down a side corridor and into a tall tower whose hollow center's inner wall sported a wide stairwell spiraling downwards. The stairwell's only illumination came from a skylight overhead, leaving much of the tower plunged in shadows.

"Watch your step," Giovanni said, turning back to the two younger trainers as the group reached a landing and passed under an arch into a corridor lined with side halls and doors.

"Touch nothing," Blaine grumbled, pausing in the middle of the hall and addressing the three trainers behind him. "At any given second a dozen things could go wrong in this lab, with the end result being a massacre. Understand?"

Glancing around the hall, and trying to see through what few doors were even cracked open, Ash quickly surmised that, given the size of the locks and counterbalanced closing mechanisms on the heavy metal doors all around, this entire corridor was designed to be locked down at a moment's notice. Glancing into the spacious cells beyond the doors, Ash mentally noted their contents which ranged from operating tables to counters piled high with tubes of glowing fluid. Here and there, men and women in white coats darted about with clipboards or lab equipment in hand.

Following the bald Gym Leader's instructions Ash, Janine, and Giovanni entered a comfortably furnished conference room with a large round table in the center, an electric chandelier overhead, and a large computer monitor on the wall opposite the door. Pulling a chair for Janine before sitting next to her, Ash watched as Giovanni took a seat a few spaces away and Blaine sat opposite them all.

"Now then," Blaine adjusted his glasses and sniffed sharply through his mustache, "I've had enough pussy-footing around and so," he turned to Giovanni, "I believe we had a deal."

Pulling open his jacket, Giovanni produced a somewhat crumpled manilla envelope. "All of our notes and observations," he gestured with the envelope and set it on the table. "There's also my own recommendations." A flick of his wrist sent the envelope spinning across the table where Blaine snatched it up and ripped open the top.

"Your thoughts are superfluous at best," Blaine removed several papers and photographs from the envelope, quickly studying them as he spoke. "Has his degeneration at all affected his ability to control the thralls?"

Giovanni shook his head. "Not in the least," he said, smoothing back his hair and sighing. "It's only his body that's withering, and even then he's fine as long as he doesn't exert himself. His telesthetic signature is growing exponentially. If that's any indicator of his current power..." he trailed off and cleared his throat. "We've concluded that he could control thralls as far away as the Orange Islands without any great effort."

Blaine looked up from the papers he held in both hands. "Well that's not good," the Gym Leader stated flatly. "So you detected theta waves in the Orange Islands?"

"And in Sinnoh," Giovanni added.

Blaine's jaw tightened. "Under different circumstances I might be proud."

Ash cleared his throat. "This is all wonderfully vague and secretive, but I don't think we have time for that. Who are you both talking about, exactly?" he asked abruptly.

Giovanni sucked in a breath. "Oh boy," he muttered, looking at Blaine.

The bald Gym Leader began tapping his finger on the wooden table, his mustache twitching like a living animal as Blaine's lip curled in a grimace. "You are here that I may quickly switch between conversations," said the Gym Leader, glaring at the young trainer through his glasses, "not to participate in all of the discussions."

Ash raised an eyebrow but decided not to speak, simply sitting back in the comfortable chair. A moment later Janine patted his arm.

"I think," Giovanni began, "that Ash should be privy to a certain level of information." He turned and looked at the young Gym Leader. "So you're aware, it's a creature called Mewtwo that we've been discussing." He paused when he saw surprise dawn on Ash's face. "I believe you've made his acquaintance."

Ash nodded instinctively before recovering. "Yeah," he frowned. "He was helping me dismantle Team Rocket..."

"Hmph," Blaine tossed the papers in his hands to the table. "I'll bet he was, and I'll bet you just leapt to his aid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Ash," Giovanni said, no small amount of caution in his tone, "Mewtwo's fighting Team Rocket because right now it's the only thing keeping him contained in Cerulean Cave. If not for my efforts, he'd have destroyed half of Kanto by now."

"Bullshit," Ash shook his head. "From what I've seen," he smiled mockingly, "you're the biggest threat to Kanto. Team Rocket's responsible for everything from wiping out Lavender to completely impoverishing Vermillion to, you know, trying to kill me. You'll have to forgive me for not buying that the guy who saved me, from you," he again nodded to Giovanni, "is actually the bad guy."

"Lavender and Vermilion were small sacrifices made for the greater good," Giovanni looked down at the table.

"Me too, huh?" Ash asked. "Killing me is for the greater good too, I take it."

"If you'd let me explain-"

"So you can lie?"

"May I speak?" barked the man in the suit.

Blaine groaned and slapped one hand on the table. "For god's sake," he rubbed his forehead with two fingers. "If you two are going to bicker, go do it somewhere else so I can at least get something productive accomplished." He gathered the loose papers around him and stood up.

"Um, excuse me, sir" Janine said quietly, raising her hand a little. "I hate to impose, but..." she trailed off.

Another sigh escaped Blaine and he readjusted his black glasses. "It almost slipped my mind." He stopped and looked at Giovanni. "The time for secrecy has ended. Mewtwo is beyond containment. It's time we involve the Elite Four, so while I'm busy with medical matters, you should send someone to contact Lance."

"I sent the messenger a week ago," said the man in the suit, shaking his head, "asking for a meeting in Saffron. We'll have Lance's response any time now."

"Well that's some of the best news I've heard today," Blaine nodded. "Now, as for you," he looked to Janine. "If you'll follow me, we can discuss certain medical matters in private."

Janine looked at Ash, then back at Blaine and nodded, standing up. As Ash got to his feet beside her, Blaine cleared his throat.

"In private," the older man scowled. "The last time I let someone from your family involve themselves in my research it got us into the mess we're in now."

Making a face, Giovanni silently mocked Blaine's words.

"I don't think," Ash started, stopping when Janine put her hand on his arm.

"It'll be fine," she said with a grin. "You should rest up," she smiled at him.

"Today?" Blaine prodded, starting for the door with the papers and envelope in his hand.

Pausing for a second, Ash looked over at Giovanni and then back at Janine. "I'll find something to keep myself busy." He kissed her cheek and let go of her hand as she turned and followed Blaine out of the room. Taking a breath, Ash walked around the table and sat opposite a silent Giovanni. Well beyond arm's reach, but close enough to speak without raising their voices, both men waited and eyed each other until the door closed behind Janine. Even then, the silence in the room remained unbroken for what felt like a very long time.

"So," Ash said at length, folding his hands on the table and staring across the table at his father. "I promised we'd talk... mostly because I want to know what I did to piss you off. Care to fill me in?"

"So now you're actually willing to let me speak?" the man in the suit raised an eyebrow. "What changed.

"All this talk about Mewtwo and the Elite Four," said Ash. "My curiosity outweighs my spitefulness. Besides," May's words from earlier that day came to his mind, sticking in the back of his head and inflaming a sudden feeling of guilt he couldn't override, "there's no reason we can't be civil."

Giovanni shrugged. After taking a steadying breath, the tall man leaned back in his chair and set one hand on his knee. "In that case, would you believe me if I said I thought you died when Pallet was destroyed?" he asked, "and that circumstances didn't allow me to act as I wanted even after I learned otherwise?"

Ash's eyes narrowed. "I'd be willing to listen to your side of the story." His stomach tightened as he sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere. The calm composure he felt emanating from Giovanni melted, and the young trainer felt a sudden and withering anxiety that mirrored the turmoil that flitted across Giovanni's face. He shook himself once, but the feeling stuck.

Looking up, his features again collected, Giovanni met Ash's eye with a resigned steadiness. "When Elm attacked Pallet, I was working in..." he stopped short. "No," he said after a quick pause. "Let me back up. You don't mind if I start at the beginning?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Ash sank into his chair a little. "Jesse and James spent more than a year trying to kill me, they killed Misty. Team Rocket sapped Vermillion dry, bled Fuchsia into submission, obliterated what was left of Lavender, and tried to take over Celadon... I imagine that's going to take quite a bit of explaining and I've got nothing better to do."

"Fine," Giovanni said, his tone calm again, even as uncertainty gnawed at Ash's stomach. The man in the suit pulled up his sleeve and undid the straps around his bracer, setting the curved composite plate on the table and showing his forearm to Ash. "Believe it or not, I actually started out working for the Elite Four," Giovanni said, displaying the faded tattoo depicting four swords pointing outwards to Ash. "I was a Ranger assigned to escorting Professor Oak to the new town of Pallet and guarding him while he was there when I met your mother. The results of that excursion should be obvious.

"That was back when tension between Kanto and Johto were running extremely high thanks to the Elite Four, all of whom but Lance were from Kanto, siding with Cinnabar over Johto in a dispute over territory. When he learned that several Johtan cities had decided to secede, Lance created a secret organization to carry out black operation inside Johto to assassinate the rebel leaders and quell the unrest. Team Rocket was born."

"And he picked you to lead it," Ash guessed.

"It stared out as a single squad of assassins and a minimal financial base under my command," Giovanni nodded. "We were small, but we were good. A year after we started, every rebel leader had been quietly bribed, blackmailed, or otherwise dealt with, and Team Rocket's mission changed. We were reorganized to a trans-regional charity service, providing humanitarian aid wherever it was needed. That, of course, let us go anywhere to act as Lance's enforcers. Whenever anyone got too ambitious, we were there to maintain the status quo."

"No fucking way," Ash leaned forward, scowling harshly. "You're trying to convince me that everything you do is sanctioned by the Elite Four? That's..." he stopped and thought for a second. "That's beyond stupid."

"It's the truth," said the man in the suit. "With people like Professors Oak, Elm, Rowan, and Birch running around free, each one a walking army working for their own agendas and causing all kinds of havoc, Lance knew he couldn't afford to **not** have a shadow organization to keep the peace at all costs."

"Which changed when?" Ash asked. "When did Team Rocket go from maintaining the peace to sucking entire cities dry and starting wars?"

"About the same time that the professors stopped fighting," Giovanni answered, interlacing his fingers in front of his face and resting his chin on his knuckles. "Once Oak and Bill lead the charge for peace with their colleagues, threats to the Elite Four's rule started coming out of the woodwork. Political strife and old vendettas flared in Johto. War broke out in Hoenn and threatened to spread. Orre's ruling elite began mustering armies and building fleets and, we learned at great cost, planning to invade southern Kanto, Johto, and Cinnabar. A populist movement in the Orange Islands outed the king and replaced him with parliament of expansionist warmongers who wanted nothing more than to acquire Cinnabar, which had just signed a treaty of alliance with the Elite Four...

"Ash, the world's political face completely changed in less than a decade. Team Rocket was stretched to capacity just trying to control the flow of information around the mainland, much less follow our orders to disrupt Orre's plans, destabilize the Orange Islands from within, and again quell the unrest in Johto. We needed resources that Lance couldn't just give to us... and I needed to protect my family."

Sitting silently, Ash stared across the table and studied Giovanni's face for a long minute, scrutinizing every detail for the tell of a lie. "And?" he probed.

"My job didn't make me many friends," said the man in the suit, "and I was already spending twice as much time away from home as not, so I told your mother what I was doing, and made her promise to stay close to her father for protection and to protect you. Then I left. I didn't want my business threatening either of you."

His jaw clenching, Ash suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "I don't think I believe that," he managed to say.

"Ever since, I worked to put out fires and keep Team Rocket funded," Giovanni went on. "When I learned Pallet had been destroyed, I was working in Mt Moon to get a new facility up and running. When I sent men to Pallet and didn't find anyone, I assumed the worst. Then you show up in the mountains and I-"

"That's not how it happened," Ash interrupted, his face hot. "Jesse and James tried to recruit me in Viridian! You had to know after that!"

Shaking his head, Giovanni set his hands on the table. "At that point Jesse and James were working under one of my subordinates," he said. "They didn't report directly to me. When they reported to their administrator that you were working with Misty, who had been a constant threat to our operations in Cerulean since her departure, he decided you were a threat and ordered them to bring you in and kill Misty if at all possible."

"They tried to kill me too, you know," Ash barked.

"Their orders were to capture you," Giovanni retorted. "And I still didn't even know you were alive until I saw you with my own eyes in Mt Moon."

Ash stopped short. "You were in Mt Moon? Why didn't I see you?"

"Because I hid. Put yourself in my place," said the man in the suit, leaning forward. "I had absolutely no clue what was going on. To complicate matters you were working directly with one of my avowed enemies, and on top of that I had already delayed a vital mission into Johto to stop all this," he waved his hand around, "and I had to leave immediately. Just leaving orders with my subordinate administrator that you were to remain unharmed took more time than I could afford."

"Remain unharmed!" Ash's voice grew nearly to a shout. "Is this a joke! They tried to kill me! Over and over and over!"

"And I know that now," Giovanni said, his tone easy as he raised his hands defensively. "But when I left I was in the dark, trusting that my orders would be obeyed. Jesse's and James' administrator assumed, rightly, that I meant to give you a position of authority within the organization. She felt threatened, and decided to kill you while I was away and couldn't do anything."

"You were gone an awfully long time," Ash snapped.

"I didn't mean to be," answered the man on the other side of the table. "I wanted to come back and talk to you but I knew that if I did the mission in Johto would fail. In retrospect, I might as well have pulled out earlier," he muttered the last part. "Regardless of that and for what it's worth, that particular administrator has been dealt with. On a completely unrelated note, I'm also looking to fill her position."

"Nope," Ash held up his hands. "Let me stop you right there. As recently as Celadon and Saffron, Jesse and James were trying to kill me..." he stopped and reflected for a second. "James less so in Saffron, but still."

"Jesse was insane," Giovanni laughed hollowly. "She was a ruthless killing machine whose only loyalty was to her own urges. I expect she tried harder than James to do you any real harm... for all that however, James still cared deeply for her, so when she died in Celadon I expect it drove him over the edge and he stopped caring about orders."

"Wait," Ash looked up. "James told me Jesse was still alive. When we fought in Silph he said Jesse had escaped."

A perplexed look crossed Giovanni's face, followed immediately by realization. "That lends itself to my theory that James finally cracked," he said.

"How do you figure?"

"Jesse was killed in Celadon," the man in the suit stated flatly. "She went without orders and died in the fighting. She finally snapped, I believe, and James went off the deep end shortly thereafter... between my ordering him to bring you in and his arrival in Saffron, I expect."

"Why?" Ash blurted, slapping his palms on the polished table. "Why would you even keep people like that around?"

Giovanni shrugged. "I needed people who were good at killing."

"So you send them to recruit for you?"

"Not normally no. But when I did the potential recruit wasn't normally someone traveling with one of my enemies."

"Well I've had enough of everyone and their brother trying to get me to join their clubs," Ash shook his head, contempt plain on his features. "Forget it."

"I wouldn't presume to expect you to join anyway," said Giovanni. "What I would risk to hope, is that I could enlist your help against a common enemy."

"Mewtwo, I expect," Ash muttered.

Giovanni nodded, the quiet hum of the lights quickly becoming the loudest sound in the room.

Thinking, Ash looked across the table, past his father and at the bright, if skewed, reflection of the room glinting at him in the polished stone wall. "You still haven't given me any evidence that he's my enemy. In fact," Ash looked back at the man in the suit. "He's done more for me than you ever have."

Again the room went silent as Giovanni blinked and glanced away, leaving Ash to smugly fold his arms in front of his chest. The young Gym Leader mentally congratulated himself on the well-timed insult, though a moment later May's words again crept into his thoughts. Again guilt gnawed into Ash's stomach and he leaned forward a little, formulating a way to move the conversation along.

"He's gathering an army," Giovanni beat Ash to speaking first. "Mewtwo's calling monsters from all throughout the Deep Roads to his lair in Malebolge at the bottom of Cerulean Cave. The Elite Four's rangers know for a fact that the lower levels are teeming with monsters, waiting rather than fighting each other. Mewtwo's waiting for an opportune time to attack and he knows he has some time left to decide on a moment... because no one who knows about him wants to tell the Elite Four. But he also knows that eventually Blaine and I will have to tell Lance about him and suffer the consequences at which point all hands will be forced and the chips will just fall where they will."

"You can keep telling me Mewtwo's the enemy," Ash said, laying his hands palms up on the table. "If you want me to believe you, I need hard evidence. I need someone else to confirm your story."

"Then let me prove it to you," Giovanni said. "Blaine will back me up on everything. If that's not enough, then follow me to Saffron or Indigo and talk with Lance."

A cold pang shot through Ash's chest at the idea. "Because Lance will just sit down and tell me about all the secret operations he's been behind for decades," a hint of sarcasm colored Ash's words.

"If I ask him to, yes," Giovanni answered, his tone deadly serious. "And let me throw this in... You give me one month, just one month to prove that everything I've said is the truth, and I'll pay for Janine's Huntington's treatments. All expenses, no questions asked, I'll take care of it if you let me prove I'm telling you the truth."

Ash raised an eyebrow, keeping his features even, despite his increased heart rate. "Wow," he muttered. "I didn't exactly see that coming."

"The two of you seem close," Giovanni stated. "You've been traveling together for a while so you must be aware of her condition by now."

Ash nodded. "I've know for a while, yeah."

"Then you also know that her's will be a very difficult and unpleasant end. She'll literately wither into a mad husk and die."

Ash swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and tried to ignore the cold sweat that broke out on his forehead. "That too," he said.

"So you should also be aware that the cure is experimental, and extremely expensive... it'll eat up more resources than most people would be willing to spend on a single person."

"'Most people' doesn't include you," Ash sighed, "does it?"

"No," Giovanni nodded. "It doesn't."

"So," muttered the younger Gym Leader, "one month working for you, and you'll get her taken care of?" Ash's face grew redder as a a single drop of sweat dripped from his chin.

"I'm not even asking you to work for me," said the man in the suit. "I want you to work _with_ me."

His eyes flitting from side to side, Ash weighed the offer. "Why?" he asked. "Why such a good deal?"

"Well," Giovanni shifted in his seat, folding his arms and then uncrossing them again in the delay that followed. "I haven't been the best," he stopped. "I thought I could make up for," he paused again. "You're all I have left," he said quickly, "and I'm not too proud to admit that I've made a lot of mistakes, the biggest of which was being a shitty father."

Ash could only stare for a moment, his jaw going a little slack. "What?"

"That's it," Giovanni added, opening his hands and shrugging. "I'd like a chance to make up for a few things..."

"No ulterior motive?" Ash asked, his face washed over with bafflement. "You feel guilty and want me to like you?"

"You're my son," said Giovanni, his voice unsteady despite the calm in his features. "And I haven't even-" he stopped.

Ash stood up and began walking for the door. "I'm going to get something to eat," he said, not meeting his father's eye.

"Think about it," Giovanni called after him as Ash stepped into the hall. "My offer stands, but I've got to leave as soon as my hear from Lance."

Ash paused for only a second before shutting the door behind him and hustling down the hall. "No, no, no, no, no, no," he muttered over and over again. "I'm not going to do anything for that bastard. I'm not going to help him or even-" he rounded a bend and stopped in the empty stairwell. His shoulders shaking, Ash leaned one arm against the stone wall, breathing quickly. "I'm not, I'm not!" he shouted. "I hate him!" he whirled around and slammed his fist into the wall, filling the tower with a dull thud.

Jaw clenched tight, Ash left his twitching fist against the wall for a second as his words echoed back at him. Slowly he drew his hand to his chest and cradled it there. "Ouch," he muttered.

Calmer now, at least ostensibly, Ash began walking down the spiraling tower, wrapped in thought, until he instinctively stopped at a door and exited into another hall. Following that a ways, he found himself waiting in a sparsely furnished sitting area stacked high with boxes and crates of supplies. Several minutes passed and one of the doors along the side of the room opened up and Ash looked over, spotting Janine immediately as she walked from a brightly lit room.

Getting to his feet, Ash smiled and walked over to her, only noticing as he neared the utter lack of color in the girl's features.

"Hey," he said stepping up beside her.

As if snapping from a trance, Janine turned to Ash and grinned weakly. "Oh," she said, "Hey, yourself. What's up?"

"I was just looking for you, actually," he said.

"Good news?" Janine's smile faded some, she reached over and took Ash's hand.

Ash glanced around, ensuring their privacy, then looked at the closed door behind Janine before turning his attention back to her. "Well, not really," he said.

"What happened?" Janine asked, the last remnants of color draining from her face.

Putting one hand behind his head, Ash steeled himself and straightened up. "I was talking to Giovanni and," he paused, "and part of me thinks I might have gotten some things backwards. I really don't want to admit it, but I think siding with him might be the way to go... for the moment." He stopped as Janine's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open some.

"What are you saying?" she asked, voice shaking.

"He said he'd be willing to help you," Ash took Janine's other hand, his grip unsteady. "He said he'd pay to get you better."

Without a word, Janine jerked her hands from Ash's and stepped back, her face going hard.

"Wait," Ash said. "I know it sounds bad, but it'd be for you. He'd help-" before the young trainer could blink, Janine spun and slapped him squarely across the face with the back of her hand. Ash staggered for a second and almost tripped from the blow.

"No," Janine said in a trembling voice. "No Ash, I think I might have gotten you backwards."

"Wait!" Ash reached out for her as Janine turned to walk away. "What's the matter?"

Janine again jerked her wrist from his hand and spun away from Ash, stopping several paces away and staring at him with glistening eyes as her features shook. "You're the same as him," Janine hissed through clenched teeth. "You and Koga, you're both the same!" she shouted, darting away.

"Wait!" Ash called after her and running in the direction she'd bolted. "Janine, don't go! Please!"

He rounded a corner and froze, having lost sight of the girl in purple. He stood there for several seconds, his brain trying to wrap itself around what had happened. After some time, he drooped against the wall and stared at the ground, muttering to himself as his eyes watered.

"What did I do?" he whispered, turning and shuffling down the hall.

SC

Sitting on the floor with his back against the granite wall, Ash could only sigh and rest his elbows on his knees. For what felt like a long time, he stared at his palms and let his mind go idle. All around him he could hear the sounds of Blaine's impromptu field hospital. Wounded soldiers groaned, medics called for supplies, Pokemon in the middle of treatment growled and yipped in pain, and flies buzzed around the living and the dead alike. Several times Ash tried to shake himself from his stupor, to no avail.

Fingers beginning to shake, the young Gym Leader realized he hadn't relaxed at all since Seeing Giovanni for the first time in years. Every muscle in the young man's body ached from the tension, but try as he might, Ash couldn't bring himself to relax. Every breath bound him tighter, bringing less relief than the one before it.

"Shit," Ash gasped hard, realizing he'd begun to sweat and grow cold. "Help me," he muttered, barely audible. He took several fast deep breaths, exhaling and breathing in again before the previous breath could steady him and growing increasingly numb in the process as his arms bunched up involuntarily before him. "Somebody!" he burst out, doubling over and clutching at his chest, every heartbeat threatening to rip his skin away from his muscles. "Help me!"

A pair of footsteps rushed up to Ash's side as the young trainer stared at the floor. His pupils dilated and contracted wildly as he gasped faster and harder, sweat pouring from his face as his skin turned red.

"Hey, this is that Gym Leader from Kanto," a deep voice called as Ash felt hands under his armpits. "Get a doc over here."

Thoughts raced into Ash's mind, only to stick in the tar like fog clouding his senses and further clutter his faculties. He could feel strong arms lifting him to his feet and Ash tried to walk in the direction he was lead, but his legs refused to do more than shuffle helplessly and the young Gym Leader froze, locking his eyes shut as his gut clenched up and churned.

For time he couldn't judge, Ash felt movement around him as he tried only to breathe. Each gasp for air came harder and faster from his chest, relieving none of the burning or the dizziness swimming in his head. A sudden change in equilibrium told Ash he now lay on his back. Instantly his eyes snapped open and he searched for the threat that had pinned him, only to see two faces hovering over him against the backdrop of a brown ceiling.

"-need you to slow your breathing," said the woman with short blonde hair as she held Ash's arms against his chest. Her words began to phase in and out as his head spun. "-going- get you out- armor."

Ash nodded, that much registering. He tried desperately to spread his arms, to make it easier for the doctors to help, but the paralysis held him firmly in a fetal position. He gasped a curse, again synching his eyes shut in stark terror, unable to understand what was happening.

"-hyperventilating-" said the woman again. "slowly- in and count to five- out for five seconds..."

Ash fought to do as he was told, but the panic shredding his mind fought back. For more time he kept his eyes shut and could only focus on bringing air into his lungs as his body seemingly tried to strangle him. He realized abruptly that his missing pauldrons and elbow guards left his arms exposed, and he heard the doctor warning him of a coming pinch only an instant before pain lanced his arm.

"-a compound to get you calm," said the doctor reassuringly as Ash opened his eyes. "We need to get you hydrated too," the woman looked at him without worry in her features. "Still with us?"

Ash nodded, watching the pretty woman's eyes as the burly nurse in his periphery hung a bag of fluid from a metal pole. The young Gym leader focused his efforts solely on breathing slowly and, over the next several minutes as the doctor again and again counted down the seconds before he should exhale, Ash began to feel warmth return to his limbs. He quickly noticed the several blankets that had appeared over him.

"Better?" asked the doctor.

Waiting for a second while his thoughts continued swimming, Ash nodded. "What's wrong," he forced himself to breathe again, "with me?"

"You're having a pretty bad panic attack," said the woman, patting his shoulder and leaning over him.

"I don't panic," Ash shook his head. "I don't let myself panic."

"Sometimes you don't have a say in the matter, plus you were extremely dehydrated which didn't help," she went on. "I know it seems rough, but you're going to be OK. We see this a lot in soldiers right after an intense engagement. Trust me, we're going to take good care of you. All you need to do is rest up-" She stopped mid-sentence and turned as someone elsewhere called her name and a scream filled the room.

"I'm fine," Ash insisted, still out of breath but drawing the doctor's attention for another second. "Go help."

She patted his arm. "Try to sleep." She got up and briskly walked across the room as a man with his leg snapped backwards was carried in.

Glancing around and finding a clock, Ash read the time and watched lethargically as an hour slipped by. His breathing evened out as the fluid in the bag hanging over him dripped through the tube stuck to his arm. The dusty burned-orange light filtering into the room dimmed a little as sunset neared and Ash began becoming more aware of his surroundings, quickly prompting him to try to tune them out again. The sounds of the wounded formed a constant murmur even during the rare moments when someone wasn't shouting.

"Glad you made it out."

The voice drew Ash's attention and the young Gym Leader turned to see two men, boys really, sitting against the nearby wall and talking. One had a bandage covering up his forehead and right eye, while the second one sat apparently unhurt aside from an angry red scratch across his face.

"How you holding up?" asked the one with the bad eye, nudging the boy beside him.

"I'm," the second boy started, sitting with his elbows on his knees. He ran a hand through his matted brown hair, scraping some of the brownish red residue from his scalp. Not answering he began picking at the hair on his forearms and running his palms over his knees.

"You okay?" asked the first.

Eyes locked intently on the ground, the second boy began fidgeting with his camouflaged sleeves and tugging at the rough material. "I've- I- I killed someone out there," he said, pausing for a second thereafter. "They just ran at me in the trenches. I just, did."

Both sat in silence for several minutes until the first spoke again. "How'd it feel?" he asked.

Chin quivering a little, the second boy ran a finger over the scratch on his cheek. "Dirty," he said, breath catching. For a moment he pawed at his face with one hand, features beginning to shake. "Can I go home now?" he looked at his friend. "Can I just go home please?"

Ash turned away and refused to listen. Shaking his head once, he sat up in the bed and without a thought pulled the needle from his arm. Scanning the room he saw that all of the doctors had been completely absorbed into treating a fresh wave of badly wounded soldiers brought in on their comrades' shoulders. The young Gym Leader pulled on his shirt and stood up, grabbing his armor and walking towards the exit, unnoticed.

Pulling the protective plates back over his frame and feeling far less naked thereafter, Ash wandered the halls of the Gym. Had he been fully himself he might have marveled at the way the rooms and passages had been carved from solid rock, the tall and narrow windows and skylights fortified with tremendous metal bars. None of the beauty of the granite halls impressed him however. Face as blank as his mind, Ash simply walked until he realized by the warm air blowing into his face came that he'd stepped outside.

Jaw going a little slack, Ash swallowed hard and put one hand on his stomach as if to hold back the nausea. Before him stretched the hundred yards of blasted earth, burned black in more places than not and torn up in hundreds craters. At the end of the no man's land Ash saw the beginning of the Johtan's earthworks; the first massive wall of dirt rose up like a city's wall to protect the trenches beyond that now burned with fires whose plumes of smoke completely obscured the sky beyond the fortifications. Almost as numerous as the craters pockmarking the no man's land, the bodies of humans and Pokemon dotted the field between the gym and the trenches. Reaching over the dull roar of the fires in the distance, the cries and moanings of the wounded permeated the air.

Standing absolutely still and unable to do anything more than take in the scene, Ash watched as men in uniforms and armor walked amongst the field, checking bodies and searching for the crying survivors. When one man found another alive, he'd call for help and with the aid of another soldier, should one be available, carry the wounded man back towards the gym. As the minutes rolled by, the procession of troopers passing by him gradually pulled Ash back to his senses and he stumbled towards the field, drawn by the sight of several men in black armor carrying bodies from the edge of the trench's earthen wall towards a smaller portion of the field.

"Captain," Ash called, spotting Zvika standing and observing the activities of his troopers.

"Ash," said the soldier, turning to greet the younger trainer. "Something I can do for you?" he asked when Ash neared.

"I was wondering if there was something I could do to help out around here," the young Gym Leader spotted around, noting that most of the trainers walking around hailed from the captain's Dragon Company and carried the bodies of dead men towards a particularly large crater.

Zvika turned his attention back on the activity of his men. "I think we've got it under control," he said, his tone uncharacteristically hollow. "Thank, you though."

Watching for a second as the trainers in black carried the bodies to the crater and heaved them over the edge, then went back to the trenches for another load, Ash stood as quietly as the several men standing at the edge of the crater waited with shovels at the ready. "Those aren't Cinnabarean bodies," he stated, pausing until Zvika nodded. "Why bury them at all?" he asked.

The captain sighed and motioned with one hand, a string of beads twined between his fingers, for Ash to follow him. Silently he lead Ash to the crater and stopped beside the dozen or so troopers waiting with shovels, pointing for Ash to look over the shallow hole in the land and the corpses lining its floor.

"You'll see," said the captain, "that they're all dead. Some of my men disagree, but I see no difference between two dead bodies, regardless of who they were before their end."

Close enough that he could quite easily make out the features of many of the mens faces, Ash again put his hand over his stomach. "That still doesn't explain why you're bothering," he said. "If you're worried about disease, fire would take care of that," he motioned to the flames still burning in the nearby trenches. "It'd be a lot faster too."

"That's not the point," Zvika answered. He stepped forward and Ash followed him without comment. "Most Johtans believe that a body has to be buried for the soul to reach the afterlife."

"And you're honoring that belief?" Ash asked. "Awfully charitable of you."

"It makes me feel better."

Stopping in front of one of the bodies, Zvika put his foot on its shoulder and rolled the dead soldier onto his back. The Johtan, eyes somewhere between closed and half open, must have met his end at the hands of an especially powerful electrical attack, Ash guessed after seeing the gaping cavity blown in the chest and noting the singed flesh around the edges of the hole.

"No ID tags," muttered the captain, the buzzing of flies and the burning of fires providing the only other sounds in the fast waning evening light. "I wonder what his name was." For a moment longer he looked over the corpse's strikingly young features. "He looks like someone from Olivine... and they marry young around there, so I wonder too if he had a wife. I wonder how she'll get along without him. I wonder if he had children who'll come and avenge him, and who will come to avenge them should they die attacking my home. More than anything though," Zvika went on, "I wonder why we can't just leave each other alone."

Ash looked away from the body, then walked back to the edge of the crater and looked towards the Gym without speaking. Zvika joined him a moment later and the two warriors looked out over the field towards the west as the sun dipped a little farther than halfway behind the horizon.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Ash muttered. "I've been fighting my entire life, but I've never..." he paused again. "I've never seen anything on this scale before. How do you do it?" He turned to the older soldier.

"How do I cope?" Zvika clarified, going on when Ash nodded. "I go home when it's all over, hug my son and hold my daughters like I'll never let her go, then tuck my grandkids into bed and pray for peace for their sakes."

"Must be nice," Ash muttered. "Pretty much everyone I've ever cared about is dead or hates my guts. Seems like fighting is all I have left." He smiled weakly. "Guess it's a good thing I'm good at it."

"Along those lines," Zvika said. "Once this is over," he waved his hand, looking at the field before him, "Johto, Orange, and Orre will have retribution coming their way. You can bet Command is going to make them pay for this, and we're going to need talented soldiers for the effort. Now your grandmother, Barshabeth's daughter actually, was a Cinnabarean citizen and by extension so was your mom and so are you. If you wanted to it would take about ten minutes and a few signed papers to have you your full citizenship and a commission in the air force."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What was that about my mother?" he asked.

Zvika smirked. "It's pretty common knowledge that Professor Oak flew in here a few decades back and swept a certain general's daughter off her feet. It's also common knowledge that they had a daughter who never renounced the citizenship she inherited from her mother... I know you've probably had your belly full of fighting for a while, but if it's family you're looking for, Cinnabar would be glad to welcome home the champion son who killed Elm."

"Technically, May killed Elm," Ash cleared his throat.

"She wasn't Cinnabarean," Zvika smirked. "Doesn't count."

Ash couldn't hold back a grin. "I've been thinking for a while that it might be time for me to just pick a side, right or wrong, and be done with it. That way at least someone wouldn't be trying to kill me." He stopped as he looked towards the mountain into which Blaine had built his gym. The young trainer's gaze moved of its own accord to the rookery where he'd landed with Giovanni. From this distance any detail was impossible to make out, but Ash knew without even seeing her that a girl in a purple hoodie sat at the edge of the rookery's massive doors.

Reaching to his belt, Ash grabbed a pokeball. "Hey, thanks for the talk. I might take you up on the offer sometime, but right now there's someone else I need to go see." He released Pidgeot from her pokeball and stepped back as the massive bird stretched. Greeting her with a scratch through her crest, Ash hopped in the Pokemon's saddle.

"Sure thing," Zvika said. "Hey, my men and I are flying out in the morning to help hold the river. If we don't see you before then, good luck out there kid."

Ash inclined his head a little and tapped his heels into Pidgeot's sides. The massive bird hopped forward and threw herself into the air with a chirp, carrying Ash skywards at a speed that briefly blurred the edges of his vision. In no time Ash and Pidgeot had leveled off and coasted lazily towards the open doors of the rookery where Ash could plainly make out the girl sitting with her head and shoulder against one wall and her legs dangling off the edge of the stone platform overlooking the island. A moment later the bird and her trainer landed in the rookery, and Ash dismounted.

Running his hand through Pidgeot's feathers for a moment, Ash tried to glimpse Janine from the corner of his eye without making the gesture too awkward. After a brief moment of straining one eye, he sighed, walked away from Pidgeot, plopped himself down on the platform next to the girl and dangled his feet over the sheer drop.

"Hey," the young Gym Leader looked over at the girl next to him, trying to read the sullen look on her face.

"Hey," Janine answered without moving or looking at Ash, her features remaining sober. "I'm sorry about the slap."

Putting a hand on his cheek, the skin stinging from the memory alone, Ash looked away as the wind picked up and made his eyes sting. "Don't mention it," he said. A moment later the two again sat in silence, Ash staring out over the darkening landscape and towards the waning sunset, Janine at the little lines running through the stone against which she leaned her head.

"So I'm sorry for what I said," Ash blurted. "I didn't mean to upset you, I was just happy that I thought I'd found a way to help you out."

Janine shook her head, eyes watering. "Don't apologize," she said, her hands beginning to tremble. Immediately the girl clenched her fists together and shoved her hands into her lap to keep them still, threatening the balance that kept her perched on the platform. "Please don't. It wasn't anything you said." For several long seconds her arms shook, the trembling slowly migrating into her shoulders and neck. "Damn it," she hissed through clenched teeth, staring at her shaking hands. "It's worse than ever."

Without permission or a single word, Ash stood up and reached out, putting one hand under Janine's knees and wrapping the other around her back. For a second she resisted, but as he carried her away from the edge of the platform the girl simply closed her eyes and bit her lip as Ash sat down at a safe distance from the edge and leaned her against him.

"Remember back in Fuchsia," Ash said after a moment when Janine's trembling had settled down, "when I told you you could talk to me about anything? You still can, and I'll help however I can."

Letting go with a sigh, little tremors still rocking her, Janine opened her eyes but looked away. "It's getting worse," she said, her voice almost lost in the rushing of the wind blowing through the rookery. "I'd doubled up on the meds and it didn't help. Now I'm out and," she looked down at her twitching fingers. "Now I'm out and it..." her breathing grew labored. "Ash, I don't want to go this way. I can feel it creeping up on me and I don't want to die like this."

"So let me help," Ash swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed the bile from his mind. "I don't like them either, but Team Rocket are willing to get Blaine to help you." He held her a little closer and tried to smile reassuringly. "If putting up with them for a little while gets you better then I'd call that a small price to pay."

Janine remained silent and looked away, though she in no way resisted when Ash kissed the top of her head.

"Please?" Ash said, voice a little uneasy. "I'd really like it if you could stick round."

"It's not some magic antidote!" Janine snapped, pushing herself up and away from Ash in a sudden fit, leaving the younger Gym Leader sitting bewildered. She glared down at him, void of her usual poise, her whole frame twitching. "The treatments are as risky as the disease," she went on, voice trembling and rising. "We're talking about injecting me with so many different viruses and chemicals that pretty much the every gene in my body, my whole genetic makeup, unwinds like a ball of yarn! Then I have to trust germs, disgusting little things that aren't even alive that were built by a madman to put it all, to put me, who I am, back together! What could possibly go wrong there! Oh, and did I mention that the whole process is so excruciating that I literately have to be in an induced coma to blot out the pain?

"Ash!" Janine screamed, grabbing fistfuls of her hair as tears began dripping down her face and little unconscious jerks made her tug at her own scalp, "there's a good chance, almost fifty-fifty, that the initial stages of the month long, the month long" she emphasized the two words with a chaotic wave of her hand, "treatment will out and out kill me or cook my brain! That's not even getting into the rehab!" She hung her head in her hands and heaved a deep breath mixed with an exasperated scream, then dropped her shoulders and let her hands fall by her sides as Ash stood up.

"It might just be easier to die and get it over with," Janine whimpered, shakily standing there as Ash walked forward and put his arms around her. "So easy," she muttered, a hollow, exhausted smile on her face. "Just over to the edge, jump, whoosh, splat... that would be it, no more worries. You can't imagine how good it feels right now," she opened her eyes a little, "to think that way."

Holding her a little tighter, Ash stared out over the platform a few paces away as the last sliver of the sun dipped behind the horizon. "Right after the battle in Celadon," he muttered, beginning to shake a little himself, "with everything I'd put up with, I was so tired. When I left Brock I planned on marching straight into Saffron and murdering every Rocket agent I found until the city was rid of them or I was dead. If I survived that I was going to head to Viridian City and hit them there. If I survived that I was going to make for Indigo and hit them there too, since I doubted the Elite Four would look kindly on my tearing their city to shreds and openly attacking people.

"I like to think I hid my intentions pretty well," Ash smirked a little, before sniffing hard to fight back tears. "But then you came out of nowhere," he paused "and something told me not to go through with it. Janine," he whispered, chest tight, "I really don't want you to go."

Ash felt Janine's arms wrap around his back as she embraced him. A small hiccup of a sob escaped her throat and Ash could feel tears on his neck as the girl buried her face in his collar.

"I'm tired of living with this," Janine could barely mouth the words, forcing herself to breathe them audibly. "I'm sick of being alone with it."

"Then be with me instead," Ash stroked her hair. "I'd never leave you."

Janine broke down and sobbed into Ash's shoulder, wrapping Ash in an embrace so tight he staggered for breath. Recovering, he held Janine steady as her legs gave out and she slumped against him.

"Okay," the girl choked, "Promise you won't leave."

"I promise," Ash said, his voice trembling. "You brought me back to life. I promise I'll never leave..." he paused. "But that goes for you too," Ash smiled at her, pulling back just a little. "You don't get to leave me either."

Face streaked with wet lines, Janine reached up and drew her sleeve across her eyes. "Deal," she said.

SC

"So much for not leaving," Janine smiled, holding Ash's hand in a white-knuckled grip. Her breathing came in quick but deep draws as she sat, submerged up to her waist in an open tank of dully luminescent fluid.

"This isn't leaving," Ash smiled back at her, his voice trembling as much as hers. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "This is just a temporary," he searched for a word.

"Disjunction?" Janine offered.

"Yeah," Ash quickly accepted. "Anyway," he went on, "from your perspective this is going to be no time at all. You'll take a quick nap, wake up, and I'll be waiting right here for you. Sound good?"

Goosebumps covering her bare arms and legs, Janine nodded, the motion shaking the wires attached to the little pads stuck to her forehead and shoulders. The dull hum of the lights overhead filled the laboratory for a second as Ash knelt by the metal tank and ran his hand up and down Janine's arm. Blaine stepped forward from the side of the room and began maneuvering a small cart laden with instruments and supplies into position next to his patient.

"You'll be in the care of my most skilled technicians," said the man in the labcoat as he took a clear mask and slipped it over Janine's nose and mouth, attaching the plastic tube to a device on the cart. "Your chances really couldn't be better."

"Thanks," Janine shivered, her voice muted by the mask. She watched without a flinch as Blaine took an IV from the cart, slipped it into her arm without hesitation, and gently strapped it to her with a plastic restraint. She looked back at Ash, eyes wide as Blaine repeated the process on her other arm, and again on her thighs until had half a dozen little tubes running from her frame to a number of devices on the cart. Finally, Blaine clamped a small instrument to her finger and a monitor on the cart began beeping at a feverish pace.

"This first wave is going to knock you out," Blaine said calmly, putting his hand on Janine's shoulder and helping her ease into the fluid till she lay flat on her back in the tank. "Try to relax. It should help the process along." He reached over and pushed a button on one of the machines. "Count backwards from twenty, please."

Janine turned her head, looking over at Ash. She mouthed words silenced by the fluid to him and he smiled. He whispered something back to her, giving her hand another squeeze. A second later, her grip on his fingers went slack, and Ash carefully set her arm down in the tank as the beeping from the monitor grew slower and steadier. He reached up and wiped his eye, then stood up.

"She's going to be alright, right?" he asked, turning to Blaine, his fists clenched and his face like stone.

Scratching his mustache with one hand, Blaine patted Ash's shoulder. "The odds of her living are better than the odds of the alternative." The man in the white coat turned to the two technicians standing quietly in the corner of the laboratory. He nodded and the two men walked up to the tank and began looking over instruments and running lines of plastic tubing from the machines on the cart to ports in the walls as Ash watched with a glassy look in his eye.

"Come on," Blaine said moving Ash towards the door. "We were out of time several hours ago."

Stepping into the dim hall beyond the brightly lit laboratory, Ash and Blaine stopped as Giovanni stepped out of the shadows.

"So the meeting is on?" asked Blaine.

Giovanni nodded, hiking up the collar of his tailored jacket. "Saffron. Lance will meet us at Sabrina's Gym."

"Very good," Blaine nodded his approval, glancing between Ash and the older trainer as Giovanni slipped his hands in his pockets. "I'll meet you in the rookery," he said, setting off down the hall.

After he'd gone, Giovanni put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "You both made the right call," he said, his tone as comforting as he could make it. "She's in good hands and you're to thank for it."

Ash nodded, then shook his head. "Thanks," he said.

"Listen," said the man in the suit, "I know you've got to be stressed, but you did the right thing, and that's what counts. You'll see."

"I'm trying really hard not to feel like a sellout," Ash muttered. "I go from fighting Team Rocket, to working with you... if that's not losing direction... You know the feeling?"

Giovanni nodded. "All too well. If it's direction you want though, let me offer you some." He paused and a small grin crossed his lips. "Have you ever heard of the Sun Soul?"


	32. Chapter 32

AN: Is it true that there's no official name for Ash/Janine shipping? If so, I'm going to make one up. Magentashipping is what I'll call it from here on in.

Also, I got the job. I'll be working less and making more. Sorry about the late update this time around. Real life has this habit of getting in the way.

* * *

The Men Who Strive With Gods

The name stuck in Ash's ears, ringing like a bell in the distance and tuning out the rest of the world for several quieting seconds. "No," the young trainer answered after a moment, shaking himself from silence and folding his arms in front of his chest. "Never heard of it," he shook his head again.

"Walk with me," Giovanni clasped his hands behind his back and turned away, walking for the stairwell.

Uncertainty and piqued curiosity playing across his features, Ash sighed and followed after the man in the suit. The dim halls grew steadily lighter as the trainers left the core of the cavernous gym behind and made their way into the facility's extremities where barred windows and skylights overtook sparingly placed lamps.

"It's the thing of legends," Giovanni said as Ash stepped up beside him, "the Sun Soul. It's a tiny fragment of a world long passed, a relic left over from the time when living forces of nature, beings like but far greater than Zapdos or its kin were still busy shaping our world."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're about to tell me a crazy sounding story?" Ash muttered, his tone stuck somewhere between fascination and sarcasm.

"More than a story," Giovanni said, stopping in the hallway, the morning light from one of the windows falling over his back and shading his face. "History..." he trailed off and turned around, setting his hands on the stone windowsill and looking out over the plains before the gym. "History that slowly faded from the minds of man until it was forgotten.

"I don't know if you remember when your mother and I would read to you," Giovanni looked over his shoulder at Ash. "You were probably too little to understand the stories, but your favorites were always the creation myths from Hoenn and Sinnoh. Do you remember?"

Ash walked to the window beside Giovanni and watched as the sun rose halfway above the horizon. "Vaguely," he said. "A bunch of huge Pokemon made the world out of earth, water, and air, right?"

"That's the Hoenn myth," Giovanni nodded. "Remember the one from Sinnoh?"

Staring out the window, Ash focused for a second, then shook his head. "No," he said. "What do old stories have to do with what," he paused and selected his words, "you and I are working towards."

"Everything," his father muttered.

"Why?" Ash probed.

"They're the explanation for it all," Giovanni went on. "The myths... they tell us how the world began and, to a large extent, how it will end..."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Really?" his retort died, half-formed. "Go on then."

"Ages ago," Giovanni refocused on the world outside the gym, "when humans had only just finished taking their first steps across the plains, the world was a far less threatening place. Pokemon as we know them didn't exist and instead there were only unintelligent beasts that lived in herds or hunted in packs. By comparison to today's Pokemon, they were weak, lacking any weapons beyond teeth and claws powered by muscles not many orders of magnitude stronger than a normal human's... Nature was ripe for the picking, humans, armed with a intellect unlike anything nature had ever produced, were poised to take over, and in a flash we did.

"Many generations passed before man truly mastered his environment and build the first civilizations, domesticating the animals and the land itself, creating wonders of technology that made what we have today look primitive by comparison. I'm not sure how long we ruled, but enough time passed that whole civilizations encompassing the world rose and fell," Giovanni paused. "But then something changed."

Ash cleared his throat when his father failed to return from trailing off. "What happened?" he asked.

Looking out over the torn landscape at the mass grave prepared by Dragon Company's soldiers, Giovanni blinked. "Records and technology from before the change are difficult but not impossible to find. Scattered in forgotten places all across every region to which I sent archeologists, glyphs and old tablets in the ruins of underground fortresses tell of a civilization of humans that rose to conquer the world with almost magical technology, only to be thrown down when some unnamed creature came from beyond the edge of the world. The monster demanded submission from, and veneration by, mankind. When the equally arrogant humans declined, the monster spawned what the records only call the Creators... beings capable of sundering space and time with their very presence, to destroy everyone who wouldn't submit.

"The details are sketchy, but humans woke up, or created, or otherwise sided with three creatures of their own, monsters who could supposedly raise entire continents out of the ocean, call enormous tsunamis, and cause all kinds of havoc," Giovanni slowly moved his hands as he spoke. "The resulting battles between humans and their allies and the Creators and their master drew the attention of other alien entities, legendary monsters of which Zapdos was one, who found themselves caught up in the scuffle and trapped on our little world.

"After it was all said and done, the world had changed. Whole countries were gone and entire continents had been wiped out by the conflict. The Creators' master had vanished, along with his creations, but the world they left behind was one fraught with creatures twisted by the warpings of reality caused by the Creators. Modern Pokemon had arrived, a small legacy of the war that changed the face of our whole planet, and what's more, without an epic adversary to fight, humanity's colossal allies turned on each other. The guardians began fighting and destroying the world all over again, all while humanity was left fractured and without the greater part of their technology, most of which had been destroyed in the war."

His lip twisting downward, Ash shook his head a little. "Then why are we still here?" he asked.

"Because we evolved," Giovanni stated flatly, though his somber tone did little to hide the excitement in his eyes. "The rampage of the Creators did more than turn ungifted animals into flying and fire breathing Pokemon. Humans were changed too. Our cunning and our collective conqueror's spirit grew just as much if not more than the natural abilities of the Pokemon in the world. So much so in fact, that it didn't take us long to subjugate the new monsters of the world through force of will alone, and using new servants like Charizards and equally fearsome monsters, we drove the old guardians so far from what few settled regions remained that they ultimately passed into legend."

"And this has what to do with the Sun Soul?" Ash asked.

"Everything," Giovanni answered. "When the Creators' master retreated, it abandoned the fortress it had built in the north, in Sinnoh, in the deepest vault of which lay a treasure that went undiscovered until not too long ago."

"The Sun Soul is that treasure," Ash stated, waiting as Giovanni nodded curtly. "But what is it?" he pressed.

"In form," Giovanni began, "it's a tiny jewel, more like a grain of sand, that glows with all the intensity of the sun. In essence, it's the distilled power of the Creators and their master, a tiny fraction of their abilities given physical form. Neither of those are particularly important questions though," the man in the suit grinned. "Nut now, there are two much more pertinent questions that you've been wanting to ask since this conversation started, aren't there?"

Ash paused for a long second, then looked up and out the window. "What does it do?"

"It grants its possessor whatever he wants, either in the form of a heightening of his natural abilities over a long period of time or, so I've been lead to understand, by granting the owner a single wish... any wish, a free ticket at rewriting one aspect of reality, after which the power will be exhausted and the Sun Soul reduced to a worthless rock. And the second question?"

His eyes narrowing as his brain worked over the implications, Ash let a grin slip across his lips. "Without bringing up how insane this all sounds and asking if you're off your meds... how do we get it?"

"Well," Giovanni sighed, "that's the hard part."

Ash shook his head a little. "Of course it is."

"The man who discovered the Sun Soul in the first place was an individual by the name of Fers Rex-"

"The first King of Lavender?" Ash interrupted.

"The one and only," affirmed the man in the suit. "Three centuries ago, Fers was a little-known warlord in the north. The story goes that while lost in a blizzard he found the Creator's tower and, upon raiding the unguarded vault, discovered what would become the source of his power. Possessing a few psychic Pokemon of some skill, Fers quickly learned of the gem's power and tried to use the Sun Soul to wish for an unstoppable army. The hitch was that the gem, while all too quick to enhance his natural leadership abilities, didn't grant him the promised wish."

Ash looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"As Fers understood it," Giovanni went on, "he wasn't "pure" enough. So, he instead used the Sun Soul's lesser power carve out the empire of Lavender-"

"Wait," Ash broke in, turning and leaning against the stone windowsill. "What do you mean by pure enough? What would I have to be to get a wish?"

"That's the fascinating part," Giovanni grinned. "My theory is that the Sun Soul still recognized itself as part of the Creator's master and as such would only respond to someone, or something, that bore some semblance of its former master. That's where people like you and I come in."

Ash stared at his father for a second as Giovanni let the younger trainer think it over. "Some people were changed more than others by the old Creators, weren't they," Ash said. "Or should I say _we._"

"Clever boy," said Giovanni. "I spent twenty years putting all these pieces together. I'm glad you arrived at the same conclusion I did.

"Professor Oak and his peers thought that Savants were the handy work of generations spent around Pokemon, allowing us to better understand and control them. More accurately, I think, Savants are the descendants of the people most changed by contact with the Creators. Spending generations around Pokemon, the other result of the Creators, just brings out more of our nature..."

"That," Ash started to mutter, "I can't really decide whether that makes sense or not." He shook his head. "Never mind, remind me again why the Sun Soul will be hard to get?"

"Simply put," Giovanni shrugged, "Mewtwo has it."

Ash's jaw dropped a little as he cocked his head to one side. "Alright," his tone dropped slowly. "Why?"

"When Fers was nearing the end of his life, he began to fear what would happen if someone who was pure enough found his treasure," Giovanni crossed his arms. "So, he built an enormous fortress under what's now Cerulean City and locked the Sun Soul away under the protection of a guardian Pokemon... not Mewtwo if you're wondering. After a few generations the treasure, as Fers hoped, was forgotten, omitted from all records aside from his personal journal."

"Which you found," Ash guessed.

"Thirty years ago, yes," Giovanni nodded. "And ever since, I've been working towards getting my hands on this ultimate treasure, spending every spare moment trying to put myself in a position to learn more about it and gather the means to go after it... And now," he smiled and looked over at Ash, "you pretty much know the whole story behind your old man's life's work. Serving the Elite Four, founding Team Rocket, all of it's been for this," he trailed off and cleared his throat. "Hopefully to give you and your mom a better-"

"Let me stop you right there," Ash interjected. He paused as Giovanni stopped mid-sentence and thought for a second. "Why does Mewtwo have the Sun Soul?" he redirected.

"Well," Giovanni stammered, reaching up and adjusting his tie while looking out the window. "Finding the Sun Soul's location was easy enough, a giant fortress crawling with monsters that ran from Indigo Plateau to Cerulean isn't exactly subtle, but that guardian I mentioned proved a challenge. Eventually I decided that Team Rocket on its own wasn't enough and, playing on his ego some, enlisted Blaine. With Team Rocket's funding Blaine created Mewtwo... a near unstoppable psychic whose only mission was to destroy the guardian at the bottom of the cave and clear the way for Team Rocket."

"Great," Ash almost laughed. "And you didn't think he'd turn on you?"

"Of course we did," Giovanni smirked. "We knew he'd eventually question his existence like any smart monster would, so we grew him with a genetic disorder based on Blaine's work with Huntington's Disease that was designed to kill him after a year of activity. As if that weren't enough, we installed tamperproof ocular nerve flashbangs, Ricin packs, and cyanide capsules all on remote triggers to ensure that he could be neutralized at a second's notice. Imagine our surprise when those failsafes went offline and we were still picking up his telesthetic signature more than a year after he failed to return from his mission."

"You engineered him to die?" Ash blurted, taking several steps away from Giovanni and holding his hands out to his sides. "I can't imagine why he might be a little bitter about that. It's not like," Ash went on, his tone growing more sarcastic with every word, "he might just be inclined to exact some kind of bloody revenge on the people who created him to do their dirty work and die.

"You dipshit!" Ash spat, cynicism growing darker as venom seeped into his words. "How could you expect anything less? In Mewtwo's position I think I'd be pissed too. And another thing," the young trainer began to pace, "why the hell are you telling me all this? If you're going for the whole 'fatherly' thing, then honesty is great, but you really expect me to respect you after..." he trailed off as Giovanni's features returned to the stony calm he'd worn when the two first met. "What are you playing at?" Ash asked, quickly taking on a collected air.

"Lance will be in Saffron for the meeting," Giovanni stated without a hint of emotion. "but I can't be. There will be other Gym Leaders from Kanto there too and they can't know that I operate under Lance's order. Your average commoner might not have a clue about Team Rocket's real purposes, but many Gym Leaders and people of power have their suspicions. It would reflect very poorly on the Elite Four if the connections were discovered."

"And you want me to go in your stead," Ash guessed, looking away and studying the wall. "You wouldn't have told me all this about Mewtwo if you didn't want me to act as some kind of messenger."

"Yes and no," Giovanni reached into his tailored jacket and pulled something from its pocket. "I need you to act as a messenger, yes, but I had planned on telling you anyway. I thought you deserved to know what you were caught up in. Consider it part of my apology for everything."

Ash looked up, searching Giovanni's face for a lie and turning his attention to the small object the older man held out for him. "What's this?" Ash asked, accepting the flower shaped token and holding it up to the light to examine more closely. "A badge?"

"Viridian's Earth Badge," Giovanni nodded as the translucent green crystal caught the morning light and flickered. "You're one of two people I've ever given that too, so if you show it to Lance it will let him know you're speaking directly on my behalf."

"That's a lot of power to put in the hands of someone who spent the last year trying to bring you down," Ash muttered, slipping the badge inside his vest.

"If we're working together," answered the man in the suit, "how can I ask you to trust me if I don't show you the same level of faith?"

Ash remained silent, dropping his hands into his pockets. "What do you need me to tell him?" he asked a moment later.

"Everything I just told you about Mewtwo and his development. Lance needs to be convinced that Mewtwo is not only a threat, but that he's the one orchestrating this whole war. Elm was his puppet."

"If Lance is at all inclined to believe you, and by extension, me," Ash crossed his arms, "that shouldn't be too hard."

"The tricky part is that you need to convince the Elite Four not to attack Mewtwo directly." Giovanni's face darkened.

"Okay," Ash's tone again grew disbelieving. "Why's that?"

"Mewtwo's an incredibly powerful psychic. If Lance were to storm his lair directly then the consequences would be most unpleasant."

"And you don't want to risk him getting his hands on the Sun Soul," Ash added with a smirk.

Shaking his head, Giovanni stepped back. "I'm not worried about that. Lance would never make it to the heart of the lair. Mewtwo would literately cook his mind if he got too close, which is why you need to convince Lance to come here, to Cinnabar and help against Johto, Orre, and the Orange Islands, who are still invading, by the way."

"Then what are we going to do about Mew-" Ash stopped mid sentence as Giovanni's face grew even more grave. "Oh, no, no," Ash shook one finger. "I'm not attacking Malebolge on my own."

Giovanni and Ash both paused as footsteps echoed down the hall. As they grew louder, May, dressed in an orange tank top that fitted barely low enough to reach her black bike shorts, strolled easily from one of the side halls with a massive pack slung over her back and her wet hair still hanging at her shoulders. Spotting Giovanni and Ash, she waved and trotted over to them.

Giovanni turned back to Ash as May arrived, bringing the scent of wild flowers with her. "You won't be going alone," he said. Stepping back that the three trainers could all face each other, he turned to May. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," May chirped, her demeanor glittering.

"Good," the man in the suit turned away while adjusting the peaks of his lapels. "I'll meet the two of you in Indigo."

"Wait," Ash called out as Giovanni continued to walk away. "Where do you think you're going? The rookery is that way." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Indigo," the man answered, looking back, but continuing on. "It wouldn't be good for us to be seen together until the end. Don't worry. I'll meet you at the entrance and the three of us will tackle Malebolge together."

Ash stopped short as Giovanni disappeared around a corner, then turned to May. "The three of us?" he asked, looking down at the girl and only now noticing that he stood notably taller than her.

"What?" May asked, a grin on her lips and a defiant spark in her eye. "Not afraid I'll show you up, are you?"

Ash shook his head. "Not where I was going," he said. "How did-" he again cut himself off. "What did he promise you to get you to help?"

"Several things," May shrugged, turning and looking out the window. "I'm an heiress, after all. There was a lot of power back in Hoenn to be mine when I grew up, but the fights between Professor Oak and Professor Elm took that away from me." She stopped and looked up at Ash. "What's rightfully mine was stolen by several several local politicians and crime bosses. Giovanni's promised to outfit my journey home and send Team Rocket with me to help me take back what's mine.

"In return, I cut Team Rocket in on the profits once I regain my family's title and lands. Before that though," she smiled at him, "I make sure you make it out of Malebolge alive."

Ash sighed. "You realize it's going to be dangerous," he said. "Mewtwo is a powerful psychic and he's sure to have guards."

"From what I understand," May tapped her temple and gestured between herself and Ash, "people like us are immune to psychics and ghosts, so we've got nothing to worry about there. And as for his guards," she smirked. "We killed Elm. We took down one of the meanest people in the world and lived to tell about it. He had what, like fifteen Pokemon? We killed them all and you, you killed the Red Gyarados!" she exclaimed. "How wicked was that?"

Ash looked away and smiled, electing not to tell her that Elm had been softened up by not only Professor Oak, but by Clair as well. "Yeah," he said, "yeah, that was pretty awesome."

"Exactly," May slapped his arm with surprising force. "So by default you're basically the Champion of Kanto now, and it won't be much longer until I'm the Queen of Hoenn again and..." She looked off into space, a content air about her.

"And...?" Ash asked fighting back a laugh at the dreamy look in the younger girl's eyes. "Oh, I get it," he went on with a teasing tone when May didn't answer. "The queen is dreaming about her king. Am I right?"

Concentration shattering, May's eyes went wide and she whirled on Ash, fists clenched at her sides. "I most certainly am not!" she belted, face turning red.

"Uh huh," Ash answered with a smug grin. "People like us can't hide things from each other, remember? So what's his name?"

Turning and looking at the ground, May mumbled something too quiet for Ash to hear.

"Sorry," Ash said, leaning a little closer, "I didn't catch that."

"Brawly," she repeated, apple-red by now.

Thinking for a second, Ash decided he didn't recognize the name. "Well, he'll be lucky to have you. Come on," he motioned down the hall. "Blaine's probably tired of waiting, and the sooner we take care of Mewtwo, the sooner you can get back to Hoenn."

"Right, that sounds like a plan," May nodded, following Ash down the hall and back into the dim interior of the gym before coming to a tall set of winding stairs.

Following the stairs higher and higher up, May and Ash made their way back into the cavernous belly of the gym's rookery, where they were immediately met by the gazes of many watchful Pokemon and a few trainers. Blaine, his arms crossed in his white coat stood at the mouth of the cave, his toes on the very edge of the platform as he surveyed the land. The bald man shook his head and reached up run one hand over his scalp as the two Savants approached behind him.

"You're late," Blaine said, his voice still carrying a hard edge, but almost too quietly to be heard over the constant drone of the wind. As he turned around and the sun flickered off his glasses, the scientist looked looked at, and then behind Ash and May. "I thought I saw an Aerodactyl fly off earlier. Giovanni left already then?" he asked. When Ash nodded, so did Blaine. "That's probably good."

"Professor," May said. "Are you alright? You sound," she paused, "tired."

"When you spend every night for two months wondering if it'll be your last, it can be hard to adjust to a quiet day's rest," he said. "Especially when you know the work's ending but the danger's barely just begun." He grumbled something in a language Ash didn't understand, before dropping one hand to the pokeballs at his belt. "Ready to go?"

SC

The last hour and a half of his watch had passed as uneventfully as the first three, and by the time the sun had begun to emerge from the glow lingering on the horizon, Ash felt more than ready to get up and finish the final leg of his journey to Saffron City. He'd spent the predawn hours letting Arcanine's finely tuned ears scan the darkness for danger, while he focused all of his attention on the little orb in his hand.

Glinting like an amethyst in the fresh sunlight, the masterball sparkled back at Ash as he turned it over in his hand and grinned to himself. Leaning against Arcanine, settled into the canine's warm mane, Ash sighed and tried to concentrate on the orb and not the worry growing more substantial by the minute in the back of his mind. At every turn his mind seemed to attempt a return to Cinnabar to dwell on Janine's condition. The young Gym Leader found it harder and harder to redirect his thoughts to matters closer at hand, and eventually gave up altogether. With a shaking breath he pressed one fist to his lips and silently tried to think if there was anything else he could have done to better her chances, only to come up short.

"This isn't Celadon," he whispered, closing his eyes and patting his closed fist against his forehead.

Snapping his attention away to his environment in an instant, Ash grabbed hold of another pokeball as a sudden chill lanced into his mind. He spotted around the camp in the clearing, looking between May and a lightly snoring Blaine, both wrapped in their bedrolls, and relaxed a little as he recognized the nearing presence.

"Find anything?" he whispered to the ghost.

Slowly materializing out of nothing, Haunter's nebulous and chain-draped form floated up to Ash. The pulsing crimson eyes were the last shapes to coalesce as the ghost shook its head. _Nothing but dirt and dark,_ the ghost responded before looking at the orb in Ash's hand. _Special? i_t asked.

"Oh yeah," Ash responded, breaking into another grin. He slipped the masterball away and straightened up as May began to stir. "That's going to be my trump card against Mewtwo."

_Hope it works,_ whispered the ghost, fading back to invisibility as Arcanine shook off the chill running down his spine.

Waiting until May had sat all the way up and stretched, Ash cleared his throat to get her attention. "Morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

"Like the dead," May yawned, standing up and beginning to pack up her bedroll without a second's delay. "Did I miss anything?"

Ash shook his head. "Nope. A few of Elm's goons swooped in to kill us while we slept, but they went down without too much trouble."

"Thought I heard something last night," May smirked. "Keep it down next time."

"If you'd both keep it down," Blaine grumbled roughly from his spot on the ground, "I'd appreciate it very much." The old scientist sat up and began packing up his things, warily looking around his surroundings as he did, while Ash stood up and stretched.

As the travelers made their final preparations and Arcanine paced around the edge of the camp, watchful but without any sign of anxiety, Haunter floated up to Ash, invisible and silent, prodding the trainer with mental nudges at his attention. Ash responded with a quick glance over his shoulder and a nod when the ghost asked if the trainer had a moment for questions.

_You are... different,_ said the specter, its usually expressive voice void of anything but caution. _Since the battles on the other land... colder, older, more forceful somehow._

Thinking for a second as he finished packing up his bag and securing the draw-strings, Ash stood up and responded that he didn't feel any different.

"Fatigued, maybe," he said under his breath as he turned away from the rest of the group and faced the space where he knew Haunter to be floating. "I don't really feel anything but more tired."

_White fire,_ Haunter whispered, his outline growing visible as he pointed with one elongated finger straight at Ash's forehead. Ash remained perfectly still as the ghost floated closer, barely more visible than a ripple of heatwaves. _It wasn't there before a you killed the other scientist. A crown. Made of white light. She,_ Haunter pointed to May, _wears one also._

Instinctively Ash reached up to his forehead, feeling for the object of which the ghost spoke and, finding nothing, turned and glanced at May. Seeing, again, no sign of a crown of fire, he turned back to the ghost who had again become completely invisible.

"I don't see them," Ash whispered.

_We see differently,_ Haunter's tone took on a hint of pride and merriment. _See what's there beneath skin, bone, blood. Never seen a human with a crown of fire before. Seems too out of place to be unimportant. Thought you'd want to know it burned brighter today than yesterday and brighter yesterday than the day before._ The ghost's inaudible laughter echoed in the back of Ash's mind and made his skin crawl. _Maybe it will burn right out of your head someday._

"Enough," Ash dismissed Haunter with a wave of his hand and shouldered his pack.

Blaine turned to Ash and raised an eyebrow. "Enough?" asked the man in the glasses.

"Uh," Ash stammered. "Enough waiting around. I'm ready to go," he recovered. "You?"

Both nodding, Blaine and May went to their belts and knocked a pokeball loose. Appearing beside the man in the labcoat, a Charizard nearly twice the length of its trainer, covered from snout to tail in angry scars, dropped to the ground and threw its wings open with a snarl that made Arcanine leap to the ready and dart between Ash and the new Pokemon.

"Easy," Ash patted Arcanine behind his ears, laid back flat with caution as they were, and ran his hands through the massive canine's mane as May released a rotund blue bird from her pokeball. "You ready for an adventure?" he asked, grabbing Arcanine by the jaw and turning the dog to look at him. The red Pokemon's demeanor immediately lightened and he began pawing at the ground and wildly wagging his tail as Ash scratched his neck and ears.

Several minutes later the three trainers lifted off from their spot in the woods, stirring up a small storm of dust as a Charizard, Pidgeot and Swellow simultaneously jumped for the sky and angled towards the north. Flying in silence for several hours, the three trainers watched the landscape roll by beneath them as morning gradually melted into afternoon. Without breaking for lunch, they flew until the sun began to sink into the mountains on their left before a small speck appeared in the distance.

Lit up with neon and spotlights like it had been before Zapdos' escape and shining like a torch on the horizon, Saffron City stretched beneath the three trainers. Within minutes of arrival, Ash spotted Sabrina's Gym within the inner circle of the city, and directed both Blaine and May to a safe landing patch on the roof. No sooner had they touched down on the roof and begun to dismount, Ash's armored boots thudding on the concrete floor, than the door to the stairwell on the far side of the building slid open.

Arrayed in a suit the color of mahogany, Sabrina stepped onto the roof and spotted the three other trainers. With a welcoming smile she paced across the distance between them and stopped next to Ash as he returned Pidgeot to her pokeball. Extending her hand, she shook his.

"The armor came in handy, I see," the psychic noted the scratches etched into the helmet and breastplate.

Ash nodded and gestured to the helmet's cheek where the outer layer of fiberglass had deformed slightly in the face of extreme heat. "I'd say it did it's job. Oh," he stopped and turned, opening his hand towards his companions. "Sabrina, this is May, and I'm sure you know Blaine."

"Indeed," the psychic inclined her head politely, though a pang of shock contorted her normally strikingly even features when she laid eyes on May. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said to the wide-eyed girl, recovering quickly. "And a pleasure to see both of you again," she looked between Blaine and Ash.

"It's really Sabrina!" May whispered in a rush, eyes growing even brighter as she held her hands in front of her chest and stared at Sabrina. "I'm standing by the Sabrina Natsume. Pinch me," her hand snapped out and grabbed Ash's arm, eye contact with the other woman unflinching.

"Keep your tricks to yourself woman," Blaine stated gruffly. "I don't want your brain anywhere near mine." He went on to mutter something in a language Ash didn't understand.

"I have no desire to pick your thoughts," Sabrina turned away from the scientist and faced Ash. "Your timing is a bit off," she said, motioning for the group to follow her. "The Elite Four, those coming at least, arrived some hours ago. Most of the other Gym Leaders of Kanto are here as well. I've been entertaining them since they arrived," she lead the three trainers down the stairwell and out onto the gym's first floor, now well lit by chandeliers and ornamented wall fixtures that accented the tastefully extravagant decor, "but to be honest, my patience as a hostess was wearing out until I sensed more guests."

"Expecting us?" Ash asked.

Shaking her head, Sabrina stopped in front of a grand set of double doors. "I couldn't sense you," she paused and looked over at May, "or your friend," she added, looking back at Ash. "But I felt Blaine was on his way so I anticipated Giovanni making his appearance. Speaking of," she again stopped and folded her arms in front of her chest. "Is there any particular reason he decided not to come to the meeting he called?"

Ash shrugged as May and Blaine stood by. "He mentioned not wanting to be seen by all of the other Gym Leaders... said it would be bad for the Elite Four's image."

"That sounds like him," Sabrina nodded slowly, "but from how he constantly talked about wanting to see you again, I'm surprised he'd throw you to the wolves like this."

Raising an eyebrow, Ash turned to May and the Gym Leader from Cinnabar. "Why don't you two go on in," he said, waiting until both had agreed and stepped through the large doors, shutting it behind them, before he looked back to Sabrina. "What are you talking about?" he asked, tone growing deathly cold. "Define 'throwing me to the wolves.'"

"Well," Sabrina began, her oddly colored eyes locking on his, "Lance and Agatha are both in there," she said. "Lance is usually the reasonable sort, but his cousin is dead and from what I understand, Team Rocket has been running a lot of operations he didn't sanction. Giovanni was supposed to explain all that."

"Fuck," Ash shook his head and put one hand over his eyes. "I should have known I'd regret even thinking about trusting him... So Team Rocket really is working for the Elite Four? And you knew?" he changed subjects.

Sabrina nodded, face remaining unreadable. "I couldn't not know," she reached up and tapped her forehead. "I can't turn off being psychic. But, Team Rocket, and by extension the Elite Four, and by extension myself and all of Kanto gain more from my not saying anything or exposing anyone. And yes," she smiled, "I knew all that when I told you that a lot of people in Team Rocket are good people working for a bad organization. I just omitted the part about Team Rocket being a bad organization with, mostly, acceptable motives."

"I thought you couldn't read my mind," Ash muttered.

"Come on," Sabrina said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't want to keep them waiting. On the positive side, you're just the messenger, so Lance probably won't hold you responsible."

"Probably?" Ash muttered with a grin, turning as the door beside him flickered purple and swung inwards.

"Even I can't promise more than that," a feline grin spread on Sabrina's lips.

Stepping into what appeared to Ash to be a comfortably furnished conference room, the psychic and the savant immediately drew the attention of the many people sitting around the circular table in the center of the room and all conversation ceased. Spotting Brock immediately, Ash felt a pang of unease as he recalled his most recent interaction with the Gym Leader from Pewter. Next to Brock, looking far more weathered than he remembered her, Kasumi leaned back in her chair with no shortage of stress evident on her face as she made eye contact with Ash. Erika, Blaine, and Mike the mercenary all nodded to the new arrival and, much to Ash's surprise, Vicki waved to him from the seat beside May, her frizzy red hair as unkempt as ever. Next to the trainer from Fuchsia, Baily and two of his engineers tipped their hardhats to their estranged boss.

Scanning the faces in the room as he paused, Ash found only one he didn't immediately recognize, an old woman, sitting silently in the chair beside May and smiling at him with an expression in her aged eyes Ash couldn't place. Ash she stood up, realization dawned on Ash's features.

"Good to see you again," Agatha clapped her hands together once as she approached Ash. "It's been some time, child," she stopped in front of him and looked him over. "Perhaps you don't remember me."

"Lavender," Ash toned. "Though you never did tell me your name," the young Gym Leader recovered from the surprise and folded his arms in front of his chest. "I'd hazard to guess that you're Agatha, though. It's nice to finally meet you," he inclined his head, "again."

"Likewise," said the old woman genially, though her attention seemed to be elsewhere as she focused on Ash's forehead, then glanced quickly between him and May as Sabrina rounded the table and took a seat beside Brock. "Well, if everyone's here, then I'd best retrieve Lance-" she turned towards a tall but otherwise inconspicuous door opposite the conference room's entrance before Ash interrupted her.

"Actually," said the young Gym Leader, stepping beside Agatha, "is it possible I can have a moment alone with him? There are a few things I believe I'm supposed to explain in private," he paused as Agatha turned back to him without a smile. "In reference to a mutual acquaintance," Ash went on.

Her black eyes narrowing, Agatha studied him for a second, before shrugging and turning back to the door. "Of course, child," she said with an air of ease about her. "You know more than I, it seems."

With a quiet sigh, Ash pushed his shoulders back and followed Agatha to the smaller door as the rest of the room's occupants began muttering amongst themselves, some curious, others obviously uneasy. Only Brock and Sabrina, Ash would have seen if he'd turned around, retained their statuesque calm. Stopping in front of the door, Ash put his hand on the knob, and thought briefly about knocking. Without doing so, he pulled it open and stepped through, into the small office beyond.

Lit by dying sunlight streaming through a single window in the western wall, the room stood empty of any furnishing beyond a desk in the center, flanked on either side by a chair. A single humanoid figure, a black silhouette in the orange pane of the window, cast a smothering shadow that seemed to cut the room in half and obscured Ash's entire frame in its darkness. Turning around as the door clicked shut behind Ash, the towering figure crossed its arms, but remained otherwise unmoving and silent.

The instant the door shut, Ash shivered, his skin going cold and a sweat breaking out on his forehead. His hands instinctively clenched as the faintest odor of smoke and sulfur hit his nose and tongue. He saw rising low over the silhouette's head, arching down the back of the man's neck, what looked like a pair of long, barbed horns. Short spikes rose from the figure's shoulders and knife-like protrusions stuck out from its elbows. The young trainer could see, as his eyes began to adjust to the light, that the tips of the man's fingers ended in what Ash could only guess to be talons, extending well beyond the length any human nail could reach.

"Lance?" Ash asked, his voice shaking noticeably as he gazed at the inhuman silhouette.

His eyes adjusting further, Ash spotted a pair of eyes composed of sharp angles and narrowing as they studied him. His stomach sank as a dread he hadn't felt since Lavender washed over him.

"You are not Giovanni," Lance's smooth but rumbling voice filled the small room.

The man stepped out from in front of the window, allowing Ash's eyes to adjust to the contrast. What Ash had thought to be the traits of a monster he could now make out in the friendlier light. Lance in fact had no horns, but rather a great mane of fiery hair that spiked back and downward in two thick arcs. He wore a segmented suit of black armor that bore numerous metal spikes across its surface, most notably at the wrists and elbows, and a pair of gloves whose digits extended outwards like the claws of a dragon and ended in razor sharp points.

Still however, Ash remained unable to find his voice, having to look up at the trainer who towered well over seven, and approached eight, feet tall and filled the room with an air of numbing dread.

"Since you are not Giovanni," Lance said, "do you mean to speak on his behalf?"

Nodding quickly as he visibly shook and straightened up, Ash faced the other trainer, but remained where he stood. "Yes, yes I do," he said, pausing for a moment thereafter and reaching into his vest. He produced the crystalline Earth Badge, which drew Lance's momentary but undivided attention as it flickered in the light.

"Well speak then," Lance's voice already carried an edge of impatience.

Clearing his throat and putting away the badge, Ash took a steadying breath but remained quick to shake whenever the other trainer so much as blinked. Making his best effort to speak evenly, Ash began to relate all the information he knew about Mewtwo's development at Team Rocket's hand and his current activities in Malebolge. Lance listened in absolute silence, his eyes never shifting from the young trainer as Ash told the story and made his case for Mewtwo being the mastermind behind Johto's, Orre's, and the Orange Islands' current maneuverings against Cinnabar and Kanto.

"... and he, Giovanni I mean," Ash began wrapping up his hastily delivered speech, "that you'd be willing to take a contingent of troops to Cinnabar to deal with the threats there."

"So," Lance's voice rumbled. "Team Rocket means to move the Elite Four away from Indigo, to the other side of the continent, while they, I dare to presume, will attempt to deal with the problem they created, underestimated, and failed to contain." He paused and looked at Ash. "Well why shouldn't I just go deal with Mewtwo myself, and take whatever this treasure it guards happens to be?" He smirked, revealing teeth almost too perfectly white, as Ash flinched.

"I don't know what treasure you're..." Ash trailed off, abandoning the lie.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" the leader of the Elite Four went on when Ash remained silent. "I've always known Team Rocket had ulterior motives, and that they've always been too loyal and too quick to express their loyalty to be genuine. Then one day they start going off the grid and performing unsanctioned operations just as all hell breaks loose in the world. I know Giovanni is nearing the completion of his plan. What that might be however I can't guess, and you'd be a fool to imagine that you fully understand his intentions. So I'll ask you again, why shouldn't I-"

Freezing in place and looking at the door, Lance cut himself off as both he and Ash jumped at the sound of a low hum. The din quickly rose in intensity until it rumbled through the room from the closed door at Ash's back. The Leader of the Elite Four unfolded his arms and stepped forward, prompting Ash to immediately move to one side.

Pulling the door open and stepping through, Lance and Ash found themselves in the darkened conference room. All of the lights hanging from the ceiling and fixed to the walls having gone out, the only source of illumination was a massive red figure, seemingly composed of glowing and translucent glass, standing on the table in the room's center. Lance's gaze immediately locked on the humanoid hologram at the center of the room while Ash glanced about the other Gym Leaders. He tried to understand why they all sat still and stiff in their chairs, staring at the hologram, until he looked at May and spotted her looking between him and Lance. The girl in the tank top quickly hopped to her feet, seemingly unnoticed as she moved to Ash's side.

It's long tail flicking from one side to another as its head turned to look between all those present, the hologram radiated a sense of dread that Ash could sense resonating in everyone in the room save himself and May. As the Gym Leaders, Lance, and Agatha stared at the red figure it gradually took on clearer and clearer definition, growing to resemble a man standing on two strong legs, balancing on a thick tail and possessing hands that each sported three dexterous fingers. A thick column of tubes that looked more like a bundle of wire than any organic formation ran from the center of the hologram's spine to the back of its elongated head.

"Is this all?" a ringing voice echoed throughout the room as the hologram glowed slightly brighter. "Is this all the more you can muster to save yourselves." Stopping for a second and facing everyone in the room with the exception of Ash and May, the hologram's beady eyes came to rest finally on Lance. "Weakling," it's voice rang again. "Failed leader of a failed species. Know that on your watch that the Elite Four fell. By your impotence and inability, by your ignorance, the rein of man is ending." It stopped and again turned its gaze on the other Gym Leaders. "I am Mewtwo. You can surrender and serve, or you can die. You have no other options."

His eyes lighting up with indignation, Ash stepped forward, between Lance and Mewtwo's avatar. "I've got another option for you," Ash shouted at the hologram, instantly drawing its attention. He cast about for a split second, noting immediately that whatever spell held the other Gym Leaders in a powerless trance had broken and they all looked intently to him now. "I'm going to come for you, and I'm going to stop you. You're nothing but an abomination, a fluke of science, a dead end. I don't know if you've forgotten, Mewtwo," Ash stared directly at the Avatar's burning eyes, "but man made you, and man can just as easily unmake you."

The room went silent for several long seconds. "Hollow words," the image answered. "You threaten to resist because your simple human mind cannot fathom the true cost of doing so. What you do not know is that your defenses are already swept away, and your cities are already burning." The hologram paused and looked at the conference room's double doors. "You will learn in just a moment now that you have already lost."

Fading from view after a second's pause, Mewtwo's avatar disappeared and the lights slowly came back on, their soft humming the only sound in the room. For a short time everyone only looked around at one another, before everyone's gaze fell on Ash.

Getting to her feet, Kasumi spoke first. "What the hell was that?" she barked. "I came here to discuss Cerulean's claim over Mt. Moon, not sit through... whatever the hell that was."

"As Empress of Celadon and the surrounding lands," Erika stood up and faced Ash, "I demand an explanation for this indignity."

"Cerulean's claim?" Brock growled, bolting up and glaring at Kasumi. "Don't you think we have bigger problems?"

"Shut your mouth," Kasumi whirled on Brock. "I won't stand for you distracting from the rightful discussion here."

"The rightful discussion," Blaine stood up, as did everyone else in the room at that point, "can only be what is to be done about Mewtwo and Johto."

"I'm still waiting for my explanation," Erika glared at Ash as the rest of the Gym Leaders began shouting at each other, making demands of Ash, or turning to Agatha and Lance to take control of the situation.

"That is enough!" Lance shouted, stomping his foot on the ground and filling the room with a tremendous boom. "Now everyone," he looked over the gathered Gym Leaders, "all-" the huge man stopped short as the room's doors burst open and a man arrayed in purple with a red sash ran inside.

"Sorry to interrupt!" shouted the new arrival at the same time Ash recognized him as Koga. "Sorry, I just need a minute to speak."

A second later two of Sabrina's guards ran in after Koga and turned to their employer. "We're sorry, ma'am," said the shorter guard. "He ran right passed us."

"Take your time Koga," Agatha stepped up next to the man and put a hand on his shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"Out of my way, out of my way," a booming voice echoed in the hall outside as a muscled man in white shorts stomped passed two more guards and entered the room. "Move, I must speak," he shoved his way passed Koga and turned to Lance. "Sir," he inclined his head.

Confusion flitting through his eyes, Lance looked at the shirtless new arrival and motioned to him. "Bruno?" asked the leader of the Elite Four. "What are you doing here?"

Koga stepped forward, ignoring Ash and positioning himself in front of Lance. "Sir, forgive my interruption, but I have dire news from Cerulean. Sir," he said, barely pausing between words and dropping to one knee. "Sir, the city came under attack five days ago. A horde of monsters stormed out of Cerulean Cave and completely destroyed Team Rocket's defenses. It was obvious there was nothing anyone could do to stop them, so I ordered my men and the Cerulean Gym to evacuate the civilians to the Rocket fortress in Mt. Moon while. I came straight here to warn you. Sir, Cerulean's gone."

"What?" Kasumi screamed. "How's that possible?"

Pushing forward, Bruno knelt by Koga and inclined his head to Lance. "My lord, the same news from Indigo," he looked up and steeled himself as anger began to show on Lance's face. "The day before yesterday, an army of Pokemon attacked from Malebolge. A ranger warned they were coming and we tried to fight at first, but there were too many. They demolished out defenses and began moving east. I flew here to warn you, and Lorelei took what remained of the guard and flew to Viridian to raise the alarm, with plans to go next to Pewter."

Without answering, Lance looked between the Gym Leaders as an anxious silence spread over the room. After a moment, he turned to Ash. "Alright," said the towering man, "you've convinced me that Mewtwo is the real threat. Does our mutual friend have a plan to stop him?"

"Actually yes," Ash nodded. "He was going to meet May and I at the Indigo entrance to Malebolge and from there the three of us were going to go after Mewtwo."

"Then Agatha and I will be going with you," Lance clenched his fists.

Shaking his head, Ash looked at the towering man. "Believe me, I wish you could help, but you really cant. It's something May, Giovanni, and I have to do ourselves." Ash didn't notice as Brock raised an eyebrow from where he stood upon hearing Giovanni's name.

"Really?" Lance muttered. "And why is that?"

Sabrina cleared her throat and stepped forward. "He's telling you the truth," said the woman. "You'll remember that just now Mewtwo paralyzed us all for his declaration of war. Only May and Ash were free of his influence. Mewtwo's a psychic whose power dwarfs even mine, and these two," she gestured to the pair of trainers beside her, "are some of the only people in the world able to shrug off a psychic's power. If you or I moved against Mewtwo," Sabrina trailed off. "Shall we say it would end badly for us."

Turning and watching Ash and May for a moment, Lance sighed and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Fine," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "If that's how it is, that's how it is." Holding his arms out at his sides, Lance stepped back and faced everyone in the room. "Everyone, I know it's been a hard day, but we're not going to let this get the best of us. If this little bitch thinks he's big enough to play in our league, we're going to show him that we can take a hell of a lot more than the one cowardly sucker punch he threw at us.

"Sabrina," he turned to the psychic, "get Ash and May outfitted for a trip to hell and back. And you two," he looked at the two savants. "As soon as you've got your gear ready, get down there and kill that bastard. As for the rest of us, we've got work to do. Cinnabar still needs help and Mewtwo's invading on two fronts."

"Sir," Brock stepped forward, "From Indigo he can really only hit Viridian, and from there, Pewter is the next clear target. If Lorelei's evacuating Viridian to Pewter then it's most logical to fall back from there to Team Rocket's fortress in Mt. Moon, but we're going to need to arm that place to the teeth since Mewtwo could hit it from Cerulean and Viridian and then march on Saffron with the combined force. I volunteer to lead the defense in Mt. Moon."

"Bold," Lance nodded. "I like it. Take Bruno and Koga with you." He looked to Erika. "You'll send your troops here, in case Mewtwo decides to split his forces and hit Saffron and Mt. Moon simultaneously. He seems to like that strategy."

Animosity played in Erika's face for a second, though she inclined her head. "Of course, sir. Mike," she turned to the man beside her. "You'll head up the operation."

"Ma'am," Mike acknowledged.

"You," Lance turned to Baily. "You're going to Vermillion to call reinforcements to Saffron. Clear?"

Removing his hat and nodding, Baily agreed to the order and immediately began conversing with his two subordinates as Lance declared that everyone had their orders and it was time to get moving on them.

"Sir," Ash motioned for Lance's attention. "Will you be going to Cinnabar, then?"

With a gruff sigh, Lance turned back to Ash. "Yes, Blaine and I will be going to Cinnabar to deal with the invasion on that front. Listen, I don't know what you know about Giovanni," Lance turned his back on the rest of the room and spoke more softly, "but you need to know that he's not anyone's ally but his own. I've worked with him all these years because he normally gets damn good results, but I've never for a second trusted him. I'm willing to go along with his plan for now because I doubt Mewtwo's victory in his best interest, but I likewise doubt he much cares who survives this confrontation as long as Mewtwo does not."

"I'm starting to get that feeling," Ash muttered, resisting the urge to bite his lip and berate himself for wanting so badly to believe Giovanni had been genuine.

"I could be wrong," the towering man shrugged. "Maybe I am. Do what you will. By the way, I'll send Agatha to escort you as far as my complex in Indigo," his tone dropped and he grew deadly serious again, making Ash twitch, "just get into Malebolge and kill this son of a bitch."

Ash nodded. "I can do that."

"Good," Lance stepped back and turned, motioned for Blaine, and left the conference room with the Cinnabarean Gym Leader in tow.

Ash sighed and closed his eyes, putting one hand on his forehead and trying to get his thoughts clear.

"So," the voice made Ash jump and turn, spotting Brock behind him. "Long time no see. You've been busy."

His heart sinking, Ash turned and faced his old friend. "Yeah," he said. "I have. How're you holding up?"


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – A Moment of Pause

"...so," Ash took a breath, his story winding down as he continued to stare intently at the glass sitting empty on the table before him, "now you know. Working with Mewtwo to free Sabrina, all the fighting on Cinnabar, signing up, temporarily with Team Rocket... that's the whole story." He risked a glance at Brock, who sat silently beside him at the long table in the otherwise empty cafeteria of the Saffron Gym. Several long seconds passed and both Gym Leaders only stared at their long since exhausted drinks.

"Well," Brock muttered at length, his tone as stony as the expression on his face. "That's something." He shifted in his seat a little without turning to look at Ash. "I did say I'd let you finish without interrupting, and I did, but I've got to say Ash, you've changed," his gaze darkened and he turned to the younger Gym Leader. "I don't think it's been for the better."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Ash glanced at Brock form the corner of his eye but immediately focused all his attention on the empty glass. "I know, I know," Ash sighed, rubbing the side of his face. "I'm sorry, I just..." he trailed off. "Since Celadon... I thought I knew what I was supposed to do, but then I got throuh Saffron and saw what Elm did on Cinnabar, then when Giovanni came out of nowhere..." He again stopped short and closed his eyes. "I'm really confused. In the beginning it was simple... go from town to town, rally everyone against Team Rocket, bam," he slapped his palm on the table, "happy ending. Now though, I realized I was never in control and it was never that simple."

Brock raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "How do you figure?" asked the elder trainer.

"Misty," Ash stopped for a second and fought back a tightening of his features. "I know what she and I had was genuine, but in retrospect I don't think it started out that way... Did you know she was a fugitive from Team Rocket and taking them out started out as her idea? Sure, I jumped on board quick, but the long and short of it is that I think she was manipulating me to get revenge. Then when I met Mewtwo in Lavender, he helped me because I was in a position to help him against Team Rocket. I thought he was an ally, but he was manipulating me to get at Team Rocket too. And now Team Rocket... I'm positive Giovanni's only helping Janine to buy my help against Mewtwo."

"You think?" Brock scoffed.

"Well," Ash winced at the blatant sarcasm in Brock's tone. "I..." he didn't finish the statement.

Brock took a long breath and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "That was harsh of me."

"I just wanted to believe it," Ash set his glass down and pressed his hands together. "I just wanted to buy it all, so bad, to believe he really did just want to be my friend. You know, I can count on one hand the people who've helped me without any ulterior motives." He let his hands rest flat on the table and his shoulders sank. "I'm tired, Brock," he muttered. "I've told myself a hundred times that I was going to take charge, do things for myself, be a hero... but every time I turn around I find out that I'm just someone else's pawn."

Shaking his head, Brock turned in his chair and faced Ash directly. "Ash, are we still friends?"

Flinching at the question, Ash took a second to regain his composure. "I'd like to think so," he said.

"That's not a real answer," Brock retorted. "Don't think about it, just tell me. Now, are we still friends?" he spoke each word of the question clearly.

Straightening up a little, Ash nodded. "Yeah," he answered. "We are."

"Then as your friend," Brock looked Ash in the eye, "I'm going to tell you point blank that I think you've made some pretty shitty decisions." He paused for only a second as the resolve began to drain from Ash's features. "Taking off after Celadon, giving up the fight against Team Rocket so fast, letting this Giovanni character get inside your head and then agreeing to work for him with barely any question..." Brock loosed a tense sigh. "You're complaining about being manipulated, but you're letting people control you. Ash, and I say this as a friend, you need to man up and take control for yourself."

A pause grew between the two trainers as Ash sat with his jaw slightly slack and Brock glared at the younger trainer. After several seconds had rolled by, Brock's expression gradually grew lighter until a smile settled on his features and he reached out and put a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"None of that's to say I'm not glad to see you're back and not dead, or that I don't want to be your friend anymore," Brock gave Ash a shake. "It's really good to see you. And I appreciate you telling me everything."

Letting himself sigh and loosen up a bit, Ash relaxed back into his chair. "Even though I'm sort of working for Team Rocket?" he asked.

"I fully expect that to be a temporary arrangement," Brock shrugged. "If it's not then I'm going to have to knock some sense into you the hard way."

"Don't worry about it," Ash crossed his arms. "As soon as Janine recovers and Mewtwo's taken care of, I'm done with them. Team Rocket will be back on my hit list... that or," he smirked, "I'll oust Giovanni and take over, run things different."

"Now that," Brock grinned and picked up his empty glass, holding it out towards Ash, "is the best idea I've heard in a long time. Here's to kicking the bad guys in the ass."

"And looking good doing it," Ash picked up his glass and knocked it against Brock's.

The next two hours passed by uneventfully as Ash and Brock sat in the cafeteria and just talked, neither one actively steering the conversation towards the recent events on the world's stage or the upcoming battles to be fought. Mostly their topics revolved around the recent dealings between Pewter and Cerulean. Brock's naturally stony demeanor grew notably less emotional when he commented on how he suspected his sibling's death to be a grave misunderstanding between Cerulean's and Pewter's scouts, given that neither side had any desire to inflame the other into a full-scale confrontation. The older gym leader closed the subject with a sigh and a shake of his head, noting that he'd decided not to press the matter given what was going on elsewhere in Kanto.

"I'm not about to invite Kasumi over," Brock grumbled, "and I'm not about to give up what's always been Pewter's, but I'm not going to fight over any of it unless she keeps pushing."

Shrugging, Ash leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the table. "I never could get a feel for her," he said. "You think she can be trusted?"

"Sure," Brock said without hesitation, "to do what's best for her, which right now probably falls squarely in the territory not starting fights she doesn't have to. Now," he said, looking over at the clock, "I hate to ruin the fun, but I've got a date to keep."

"Right," Ash acknowledged, "I'll make sure you don't get lost on your way out," his tone grew playfully sarcastic.

Getting up from the table, Ash and Brock left the brightly lit cafeteria and paced quickly through the Gym, past bustling psychics and Sabrina's other servants, as they made their way to the roof. The night had since fallen, but by the floodlights on the roof Ash could easily spot the other trainers waiting around the makeshift landing zone sprawled out in the open air. Bruno, having donned a heavy cloak of brown and green cloth towered over Koga, who stood silently beside him. The shorter man turned and glanced at the new arrivals. Looking between Ash and Brock, he nodded to both of them.

"I understand you're the ones who disrupted my work in Fuchsia," he said with all the interest of someone discussing their last meal.

"That's not going to be a problem, is it?" asked Brock, stepping a little in front of Ash. "If' we're going to work together-"

"You mistake my meaning," Koga's ambivalence took on a tone of amicability. "I wished only to acknowledge an upstanding adversary and honor them as they deserve," he inclined his head slightly. "God be with us all."

A grimace overtook Bruno's features and the large man shook his head. "You can keep that superstition to yourself," said the burly man.

"Guess I didn't expect to be the last one here. I thought you said you were going to rest," Brock added, turning to Koga.

"Just enough to avoid falling asleep in the saddle," the shorter man said, adjusting his gauntlets. "There will be time for more meaningful sleep later."

"Whatever you say," said Brock. "Ready to go?"

Unfastening a pokeball from his belt, Koga casually tossed the little orb to the ground where it snapped open and further lit up the roof of the gym. "Of course," he said politely as a Venamoth materialized from the light. Stepping up next to the Pokemon and slinging one leg over its back, the man in purple gripped the giant insect's carapace as Brock and Bruno both released winged mounts from their pokeballs and climbed on their backs.

Tapping the button on a small device on his belt, Koga turned to Brock and Bruno as the mechanism began beeping quietly and a small LED on its side blinked red. "Don't fall too far behind," he said. "The signal only extends out for a couple of miles," he patted the transmitter on his belt, straightened himself in the saddle, and leaned into the motion as his Venamoth darted up and into the sky. Bruno's Fearow cawed, and took a running start before flinging itself over the edge of the roof and opening its wings.

"Once this over," Brock looked at Ash. "You owe me a beer."

"Sure thing," Ash nodded. "Say hi to Jennifer for me."

Brock smirked and checked a pocket-receiver to make sure he could pick up Koga's location, before tapping his Pidgeotto's sides with his heels. "You can tell her yourself at the wedding!" Brock shouted over his shoulder, not giving Ash a chance to answer before the older trainer had taken to the air. "Good luck!"

"Wedding?" Ash cocked his head to one side a little before a grin settled on his lips. "Brock, you dog." He turned around and began to walk forward, stopping short when he spotted a figure standing at the stairwell's entrance. He reflexively reached for his belt, but cut the motion off when he realized it was Agatha waiting for him at the door to the gym.

"I don't suppose you'd have a moment to talk?" said the old woman, stepping forward with her hands idly behind her back. "Before we leave for Indigo, I mean."

"Uh, sure," Ash nodded. "I hear ignoring the Elite Four tends to be hazardous to your health anyway."

Turning quickly towards the south, both trainers focused on the flash of white light illuminating the surrounding buildings from the street below. A colossal roar split the air and a moment later a tremendous rush of air whipped up over the edge of the room and buffeted Ash and Agatha as they made their way to the guardrail to look over. Agatha's deep purple dress whipped in the wind as the trainers glanced down just in time to spy the enormous Dragonite roar again and leap into the air. The rider on the dragon's back gripped the edges of his saddle firmly as the Dragonite snapped its wings down and sped into the dark sky, angling south.

"Wow," Ash muttered, mentally comparing this Dragonite to the one he'd seen Clair ride in Cinnabar. "That thing's huge."

Agatha nodded and smiled to herself. "That's Lance," she said, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Such a misdirected bent for the dramatic," she shook her head. "One of these days he'll learn."

"Anyway," Ash leaned on the guardrail. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right," said the old woman. She composed herself. "There's really now way to put it that won't sound strange, but you've changed quite a lot since we first met in Lavender."

Ash smirked. "Changed sides, changed missions, changed ideals..."

"And you've changed spiritually, I think," Agatha mentioned. "I spoke with your Haunter earlier. He had some interesting things to tell me."

Ash raised an eyebrow, suddenly very aware of his ghost's absence. "You can see it?"

Agatha chuckled. "Now that you're wondering, he's dormant in the basement and should be ready to go in shortly. And yes I can 'see' ghosts. My family's been working with spirits since before Lavender founded Celadon. I've personally had dealings with spirits since I was old enough to talk. You learn many things, walking with ghosts, some of it actually useful, most of it less so... Most spirits don't remember their past lives. They're merely entities lingering around this world, killing time before departing for whatever comes after from which they don't come back. Every now and then however, a medium will come across a ghost that's both in possession of knowledge and willing to share it."

"I take it you picked up a useful fact that you think I could use?" Ash probed.

Nodding and resting her hands on the guardrail, Agatha looked over at Ash and then at the ground below. "When we met in Lavender you had a spark about you. I mean that quite literally. There was a spark of spiritual fire like a single point of faint light that hung in the air around you. I've seen them before. Anyone who spends enough time around ghosts eventually begins to see like they do... through this world to the one underneath. Catching glimpses of people's spirits is normal, but I've rarely seen one that manifested as anything more than a fine..." she searched for words, "a fine mist that hung about wherever the person walked. Yours on the other hand was by comparison unmistakably bright and focused. At the time it was odd, but I thought little of it.

"Now however," she stared intently "now that we've met again I see that the single point of light has grown. It looks more like a burning crown than a bead. For all my chiding Lance about his wardrobe, I must admit, yours is quite dramatic and it doesn't look terrible."

"Uh," Ash stammered, "thanks?"

"Well I'd never seen anything like that before," Agatha continued, "so imagine my surprise when not one but two people in the same day walked up to me, both wearing their spirits like burning helmets. That May girl, her's isn't quite as bright as yours, but it's definitely there. That event in and of itself would have made any medium flinch, so imagine my further surprise when it lined up perfectly with a divination I witnessed as a child."

Ash made no effort to hide the interest on his face. "There was a prediction about me?" he asked. "It didn't point to how this is all going to turn out, did it?"

"Isn't it funny how such things are always vague enough to be interpreted with dozens of theories, any of which can make slight sense when viewed from just the right angle?" Agatha grinned. "The ritual resulted in the spirit of a very powerful psychic being pulled back from the grave. He chose to speak to me, for which my mother who paid for the expensive ritual never forgave me. Jabez was what he told me to call him, and he said that before he died he had one vision that he regretted never revealing to anyone." Agatha paused for a brief second. "Just a moment. I want to tell this properly...

"He said that before my years were up, he saw all the people in the world stood in a brightly lit field as a dark cloud rose in the north to erase everything good that had ever been. Most didn't see it, but anyone who did was overwhelmed when they saw the darkness and ran towards it, trying to take others with them, calling out that there was no fighting so they might as well embrace it. It was only when the darkness had all but overtaken everyone that anyone capable of driving it away emerged.

"There were four figures, two men and two women, each wearing a crown of fire. Three of them commanded a third of the people not overwhelmed by the darkness. The first was a man who rode rode on a bolt of fire without being burned, and he commanded an army of countless undying soldiers that obeyed his orders without hesitation of thought. He was the backbone of the resistance, binding the other three together. The second was a woman who could shake the very foundations of the world with her iron will. She ruled in the east and stood as a bulwark against the darkness, uprooting mountain ranges and draining whole seas in her fight to protect the rest of the world from the encroaching dark. The third was a king in the west with a golden spirit that shone so bright even the blackest pits of the darkness couldn't dim it. He and his soldiers were to drive like a spear into the heart of the darkness's army, piercing it..." Agatha trailed off.

"And the fourth?" Ash asked, attention completely bound up in the old woman's words. "What about her?"

"Her part is the saddest by far," Agatha muttered. "She has to lose everything to warn the other three of the darkness's coming. What that means I'm not sure, and neither was the ghost, but it was clear that the fourth's part in the prophesy is the most important. One can prepare all they like for a threat, but if it comes on them with no warning while they sleep then victory is impossible. In the same way, I feel it will be the fourth who sounds the alarm and rallies the other three against the darkness. She'll hopefully foil its plan to strike in secret, but if she doesn't..." Agatha grinned as if to hide a frown, "then I fear Mewtwo will be the least of our worries.

"Getting back to the part that involves you," the old woman's tone lightened noticeably, "the part you care about, I'm sure. I'd hazard to guess that as you're neither a king nor very far west, the man riding the bolt of fire was you. May must either be the fourth or the woman in the east, though I can't say which. Poor thing, either way her part isn't a happy one." She looked at Ash. "Either way she's going to need friends when the time comes."

Ash cleared his throat. "Well," he said. "I can't say I've ever been part of a prophecy before, or that that one really gave me too much hope."

"I didn't claim it would be a joyous thing," Agatha grinned at him. "But I spent a long time memorizing that spiel and I'll be damned if I wasn't going to make some use of it before I die... especially now that I've met someone featured in it."

"So you think it's real?" Ash asked.

"It might be," Agatha shrugged. "Or it could be the insane ramblings of a mad ghost. I lean towards the former, but either way it was supposed to happen during my lifetime and I'm not getting any younger. So there you have it."

"Thanks," Ash said, looking back down into the street. "I'll keep it in mind."

Without further conversation, the two trainers waited on the roof, accompanied only by the hum of the floodlights and the occasional gusts of wind to break up the silence. The neon lights of Saffron's inner city lit up the skyline around the gym, trails of light silently racing up and down and all over the sides of the skyscrapers.

"Does May actually know she's supposed to meet us up here?" Ash asked after some time had passed.

Before Agatha could answer, the door to the roof's maintenance stairway opened and both May and Sabrina stepped out into the open air, May sporting a suit of armor identical to Ash's. The new arrivals spotted Ash and Agatha at the same time that Agatha and the young Gym Leader recognized the other trainers.

"Never mind," Ash grinned, straightening up and looking May over before turning to Sabrina. "Do you always give out such expensive gifts?" he asked goodnaturedly.

"It will do more good keeping my allies alive than it will sitting in a storeroom," Sabrina answered. "Besides," she smirked, "I have more money than I could use in ten lifetimes. Why shouldn't I throw a little here and there now and then?"

_I'll have to remember that for later, _Ash thought, twitching a second later as he felt Haunter's presence glide up onto the roof. Silently he acknowledged the ghost as Haunter floated invisibly up beside him. "You look good," he said to May.

The girl in the black armor held her arms out to her sides and did a little spin. "I like it," she said. "Much more stylish than that drab stuff I brought from Johto. Lighter too."

Sabrina folded her arms in front of her chest. "Tougher too. It's the best and something tells me you'll need it." She paused and walked over to Ash. "Good luck." she said. "If you happen to see your father, give him my best."

"I'll do that," Ash answered, making every effort to sound as polite as possible. "Good luck yourself."

Nodding and mentioning that she had to start getting her people ready, Sabrina took her leave and left Agatha with the two younger trainers.

"Right then," the old woman checked her watch. "If we ride hard and fast, stopping only to sleep, we should be able to make it to Indigo in short order, two days if the weather's with us."

Drawing up a memory of Kanto's geography, Ash tried to plot out a course that could get them there that quickly. "You realize," he said, "we'll be flying directly over Mt. Moon," Ash said.

"Yes," Agatha said flatly.

"And there aren't exactly many great places to set down and rest in that mountain range," the young Gym Leader went on. "We'll probably get there late, just about the time that we'll really need sleep."

"Yes," Agatha repeated. "If you don't think you can stay up a little longer that you'd like, if you think you'll get too stiff in that saddle, I'm sure we can find a nice hotel in Cerulean or... wait..." Agatha smirked.

"Point taken," Ash muttered.

"Wasn't Cerulean just captured?" May asked, confused.

Glancing between each other first, Ash and Agatha turned and looked silently at May.

"Oh," the youngest trainer's eyes opened wide. "That was the joke."

Agatha nodded and plucked a pokeball from her belt. "Oh boy," she sighed.

As Agatha threw her pokeball to the ground, releasing a flood of white energy that swirled into a winged form, Ash and May both went for their belts and did the same. A few seconds later the three trainers shared the roof with Ash's Pidgeot, May's Swellow, and an enormous bat that stood twitching and jerking in front of Agatha.

Running a hand through her Swellow's feathers, May looked to Ash. "Not riding Charizard?" she asked.

"Pidgeot's better for cruising long distances and she's not quite as mean in a fight," Ash answered."If we're attacked in the air I want Charizard as free as he can be and I'd slow him down some." He looked over at Agatha as she climbed up on her Pokemon's back, pulling herself up into a natural crevice between the massive bat's four wings where she settled in without a saddle. For a second, idly scratching Pidgeot's head and playing with her crest as she cooed against him, Ash watched the bat as it spasmed and twitched, clicking its teeth together and tapping its clawed feet anxiously at the roof. "I've never seen a Pokemon like that before," he said. "What is it?"

"A Crobat," Agatha answered. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Ash swung a leg over Pidgeot's back and strapped himself into the saddle using one fluid motion as May climbed atop Swellow and methodically secured herself to the Pokemon.

"Lead the way," Ash answered.

Splitting the air with a hiss of wind, Agatha and her Crobat shot into the sky, the Pokemon's purple wings blurring out of sight. A second later Swellow and Pidgeot both jumped over the edge of the rooftop, opening their wings and gliding for a moment before angling upwards and climbing into the night sky, chasing after Agatha as the older trainer switched on a flashlight and signaled for the others to follow her.

Breaking above the low hanging clouds and into the plentiful light of a full moon, Agatha turned off the flashlight and leveled off as Ash and May fell in beside her. The three trainers angled west and north, speeding along as their shadows twisted and danced on the clouds beneath them. As Ash and May closed their helmets, sealing themselves off from the biting cold of the wind, Haunter reached out for Ash's attention from the young Gym Leader's backpack.

_Going off to fight the psychic?_ asked the ghost.

Ash nodded. "Looks like it," he whispered.

_Powerful old lady said the psychic stunned all the other leaders. Why not finish them there? Why show himself? Why not let everyone fight each other?_

Ash thought for a second and shrugged. "I'm not sure... but Blaine said Mewtwo's a genius. Either that was a big lapse in judgment, or he's trying to maneuver us all into position for something."

_Hope it's the first one since now we're all flying straight to his lair..._

"Me too," Ash swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Hopefully he won't see this coming. But if he does," the young trainer risked a glance at the Masterball on his belt, "hopefully I'll be ready."

* * *

AN: Okay, a bit of a shorter update this time around. I originally wanted to post one final mega-marathon chapter that would tie things up nice and neat in one fell swoop and in a more timely manner, but after a little thought I decided that smaller, more user-friendly, chapters never hurt anybody. Besides, that also leaves me more time to edit and make corrections and stuff.  
Hope you all enjoyed the installment and have an awesome... whatever today is.


	34. Chapter 34

AN: I'm back. No promises on regular updates, but I am back. At any rate, thanks to those of you still soldiering on with me as I finish this. It's a fun trip.

So I'm moving back across the country with my fiancee. Fun times. Hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 34 – Between the Fangs

Muscle's tight, forehead wet with sweat, Ash bolted up from his bedroll with a gasp, clawing at the air as if to tear himself all the faster from the nightmare. Stopping silent and glancing about, he saw Agatha asleep by the cold ashes of their party's little fire. He put a hand up to his brow and closed his eyes again. An instant later he shook himself as images of the dream returned, eyes snapping open though he hid them behind his palms.

Sitting up and reaching out, May put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Can't sleep?" her soft voice barely reached over the constant drone of the wind through the crags.

Ash shook his head. "That obvious?" he asked, taking a deep breath. "Just a dream."

"Want to talk about it?" May asked.

Glancing over at her, Ash had to double check it was May and not Janine asking the question, the similarities between the two girls sticking in his tired mind. He reached out for Haunter and located the ghost dutifully patrolling the perimeter of the camp just beyond the light from the torch burning on the edge of Charizard's tail. Ash scooted back and rested his back against the sleeping dragon's ribs.

"I keep seeing Misty," he muttered, staring down at the ground, not seeing the frown cross May's features as her heart twisted for him. "When I saw Kasumi in Saffron," he stopped, voice on the edge of steady, "it was all I could do... they look so much alike. I keep seeing everyone else too." His face fell.

As Ash went quiet, May scooted closer and leaned against Charizard. Neither trainer seemed to notice when the infernal lizard opened one eye, glanced at them with disdain, then hissed out a low breath and went back to sleep. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Scratching his face, Ash tried to shake the last bit of sleep from his eyes, but he didn't answer.

"Your grandfather," May stated gently, looking intently at Ash's face.

Ash smirked. "Was that your guess as a savant?" he asked.

"Connection," May gestured between her temple and Ash. "Remember? You don't get to hide anything from me. And..." May smiled, "you remind me a lot of my little brother, so there's that too."

Ash nodded and looked up at the sky, guessing it to be nearing dawn. "Yeah, I keep forgetting I'm not the only person who's lost people."

"True," the girl nodded, wearing a big grin. "Sucks to be us, doesn't it?"

Laughing once, Ash quickly put one hand over his mouth before turning back to May. "Sure does. The only question is how you can be so happy about it."

Shrugging, May continued to wear that grin. "Ever since Elm went down, I've been seeing the world a little brighter every day. Everyone who ever did me any wrong is dead and as soon as we deal with Mewtwo, Team Rocket will help me take back my home and it's all sunshine and lollipops from there."

"Everyone who ever did me any wrong is dead," Ash repeated. "That's... a unique outlook."

"It works for me," May dropped her shoulders, growing more somber. "You know, for a long time after Elm took me away, the thought of seeing him and a number of other people dead was all that kept me going. At first I wondered if that kind of hatred was a bad thing, but after a while I stopped caring. Killing Elm was..." she stopped and grinned again, "uplifting. It closed a chapter, and now I can move on with no baggage."

"Remind me to keep on your good side," Ash stared straight ahead for a scant few seconds. "I think that's my problem," he muttered after the pause.

"Hmm?" May probed when he trailed off. "What's a problem?"

Thinking, Ash sighed. "I've never really felt much of anything that wasn't related to... well, a few people," his mind immediately darted to Misty and Janine, but he forced himself back to the thought at hand. "I've killed a lot of people, I've watched a lot of people die, and I've never really felt much either way. When," he swallowed. "When my mother died, I barely reacted... I cried a little, but it was too easy to just push any thought of her out of my head. All of Pallet, several of my Pokemon, even Pikachu..." he took a breath. "My own grandfather. I never buried any of them. I just kept going without thinking about it."

"That's not necessarily bad," May pointed out. "Compartmentalizing is useful in our line of work."

"But I've saved people too, without really thinking about it," Ash thought back to Jesse, "people I should have killed where they stood and it didn't even give me a good feeling inside. "Then I turn around and go right back to killing," he thought of the, to him, nameless guard in Celadon City, into whose heart he'd slid a knife. Ash patted his knees. "The fact that it's so sad doesn't bother me either." He paused and looked over at May, his eyes asking the question his mouth could never voice.

The girl reached over and put her hand on his, smiling. "You've been desperately fighting for your life for a really long time," she said. "Murderers, psychopaths," she searched for a word for a moment "evil," she paused again "things have all had it in for you for years. If you weren't a little cold at times, you'd probably be dead."

Wincing, Ash looked away.

May bit her lip. "You're not cold," she uttered quickly, "not really. Now the trainers down in Orre, those people are cold."

Ash started to speak, planning on asking when she'd been to Orre, but Agatha's stirring stopped him. Both he and May looked over as the old woman yawned and stretched, sitting up and cracking her joints with a number of audible pops. The elderly trainer greeted them good morning and began packing up her portion of the camp.

Looking over at Ash, May grinned. "Well," she muttered. "Big day today."

Ash nodded. "Big day," he agreed. He wondered without speaking how Brock and the others were faring. The thought chilled him, so many people, so many soldiers and trainers from all walks of life gathering in the fortresses Team Rocket had built in Mt. Moon and Sabrina's citadel in Saffron. So many people united against Mewtwo's power. It should have given him hope, Ash thought. Instead, it terrified him.

Looking over at May, Ash read the uncertainty that appeared in her features. They looked at each other then, pausing in their quick packing up of their small camp. A wordless exchange passed between them and both understood the other's feelings perfectly. Something, they both silently agreed, was very wrong.

"Why?" Ash stood up and ran a hand through Pidgeot's crest. "Why would Mewtwo tip us off?" He paused as both Agatha and May.

Agatha shrugged. "You said he's an incredibly powerful psychic," said the old woman. "Maybe his pride got the better of him."

Ash shook his head. "He's too smart for that." he said.

"How do you know, child?" Agatha asked calmly. "Power does little to sharpen one's judgment. The humblest of us succumb to the thirst for it and the smartest of us fall to its intoxicating lure."

Still looking at the ground in though, Ash sighed. "Maybe," he said, returning Charizard to his pokeball and slinging one leg over Pidgeot's back. "I still don't like it."

Agatha smiled. "Peace child," she said, snapping open a pokeball of her own. As a Crobat materialized from the light, Agatha stepped up to the Pokemon and climbed up to the crook in its chitinous armor. "Why Mewtwo revealed his plan to us is far less important than that he did. Now we have a real chance of destroying him."

Watching from beside her Swellow, May took a shallow breath. "Big day," she muttered.

With that, the three trainers spurred their Pokemon and rocketed into the sky. As Kanto dropped away beneath them, Ash looked south and east, past the peaks of the Moon Mountains, past the endless fields and lakes. As he climbed higher and neared the ceiling of clouds, unwelcomely grey in the predawn gloom, he saw the tremendous black haze rising from beyond the horizon. His armor, sealed as it was against any kind of heat or chill, did nothing to block out the cold that radiated from within him as the young savant thought that beneath that choking black haze, Cerulean still burned.

Passing through and emerging above the blanket of clouds, Ash and the two women leveled off, angled almost due west now. As the first hour rolled by, the sun broke above the clouds, making Ash and May's armor glitter like obsidian. No one spoke for fear of a break in radio silence robbing them of stealth, and as they three trainers journey progressed into its thirteenth hour and the sun began to dip down in front of them, Agatha went to her belt and drew out a pair of pokeballs.

Snapping them open released not a bloom of light, but rather a duo of sickly green and purple shadows who's edges blurred out of existence like a warp in reality itself. Within the shadows Ash thought he saw three or four faint red orbs. One of the shadows wrapped itself around Agatha, making her silhouette shimmer and shift in and out of focus. The other miasma flew, unaffected by the wind and coalesced around May, cloaking her in a similar effect. The girl shivered and Ash sensed her fighting mentally against the ghost enveloping her, but after a moment's protest, she relented and allowed Agatha's guardian spirit to shield her.

A bass laughter echoed in Ash's mind as Haunter emerged from his pack, not invisible but in the form of a deep purple mist, and wrapped around Ash's frame. The young trainer watched as ethereal chains bound themselves around him and he reflexively tested their substance. Finding they failed to restrict his flexibility, Ash relaxed in the saddle and let Haunter work.

The ghost's chortling subsided. _Wouldn't want the psychic to see you_, Haunter chuckled.

"You can really keep me hidden?" Ash asked without engaging his radio.

Haunter only laughed again. _Learning from the crone's spirits,_ he answered, the echoing voice deeper than Ash had ever heard it. _Discovered much. Many lessons. Stronger now than ever. Much credit to you._

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Thanks to me?" he pressed.

_You and the other are different. Told you before. Easy to become stronger near you. More and more power. The more strength gained, the easier to gain more strength. What's the word..._ Haunter searched for the expression. _Exponential._ The ghost burst into a silent cackle. _Years worth of experience in days. Wonderful._

Ash nodded. "Good," he said. "Don't let it go to your head."

_No,_ said the ghost. _No worries about that._

A flash of light caught Ash's attention and he looked to see Agatha signaling him with a flash light. The old woman motioned downward and began descending. As she and Crobat took the lead, Ash and May followed her down into the banks of haze. Almost as if a curtain was pulled away, Ash broke through the cover of clouds and saw the ground so far below. Immediately his breath caught. Before and beneath him stretched a range of mountains countless miles long and wider than any Ash had ever seen. Almost directly beneath him the young trainer saw a plateau, stretching off for miles before butting up against the side of an enormous mountain. Covering the plateau from one end to the other stalagmites hundreds of feet high, many wider than a city block at their base, stabbed into the sky. Their sides, smooth as polished glass and dotted with countless windows betrayed their artificial construction.

"Indigo," Ash muttered.

Static buzzed in his ear and may's voice followed. "I don't see anyone," said the girl as the three trainers descended slowly.

No one answered as the maze of towers rose up to meet them. Flying amongst the spires, each a slightly different shade of the crème colored stone comprising the mountains, the trainers dodged and weaved around the hundreds of sky-bridges connecting the towers. Silent save for the whistling wind, Indigo Plateau stood utterly abandoned.

As they neared the ground though, Ash saw more and more clearly the signs of conflict. The streets crisscrossing between the towers glittered in countless shades of red and brown and at first Ash thought some ruddy stone had been used to cobble the roads, but as he and the others landed, Ash saw the scars, pockmarks, and burns of battle dotting the surround. Indigo's streets bore countless signs of conflict and the streets and sidewalks bore a crust of dried blood.

Sitting atop Pidgeot, Ash surveyed the scene, mouth agape. He could barely muster the mental energy to wonder how many people and Pokemon had died that such wide streets would be completely caked with dried blood. Still, save for the wind, he heard nothing. He watched as Agatha dismounted her Crobat, returned the Pokemon to its pokeball, and reached down. She ran her fingertips over the crust of dried sludge. May dropped from Swellow and returned the Pokemon to its pokeball as Ash did the same with Pidgeot. Both savants removed their helmets.

May turned around where she stood and looked all about her. "Where are the bodies?" she asked, voice shaking.

Ash sniffed the air. "Where's the smell?" he asked. "And the flies... there should be flies and carrion birds all over this place."

As Agatha stood up, she wiped her hand down her dress, leaving a smear of brown across the purple. "Even weak psychics distort natural law with their mere presence. Here, I doubt many things will be as they should be." She nodded to the north. "This way."

The three companions trekked through the desolate city, the spires spiraling high overhead, pockmarked by countless empty windows. After they had gone a ways and just before Ash could ask why they bothered to walk, Agatha turned a corner and lead the trainers onto a plain of stone that stretched out for hundreds of meters before ending at the wall of a tremendous mountain. Carved into the base of the wall, the curtains of a castle stretched out onto the plain. So massive that Ash wondered how they had been carved by human hands, the castle's walls and towers made the rest of the plateau seem tiny by comparison.

Shaking himself from his reverie, Ash replaced his helmet and reached into his pack, drawing out a pair of binoculars. "I don't see anything," he said, scanning the castle's walls. As May and Agatha waited in silence he checked all along the tops of the fortifications, surveyed the towers and the gatehouses, looking for any sign of waiting resistance. "There's no one there," he muttered.

May shrugged. "Maybe Mewtwo's not as powerful as we thought," she said. "He doesn't have the manpower to defend his sanctuary?"

"Or he doesn't need it," Agatha commented. "Agatha?" he turned to the ghostly old woman.

The crone remained silent as she surveyed the walls. "Beyond the gate," she said at length, "we'll find the main complex of Victory Temple. From there it's due north along the main road to the entrance to the Four's Citadel. Any resistance will likely come then, as the Citadel was designed to withstand any siege from without. The vault lies beyond that, built to contain any threat from thee Deep Ways and Malebolge."

"Who built all this?" May asked. She looked behind her into the empty city and then forward, towards the complex. "It must have taken ages."

"Lavender," Ash answered. "It was the westernmost of their cities."

Agatha laughed once. "That is the common myth," she corrected. "But the truth is that Lavender did not build Indigo, or Victory Temple, or the Vault. We only found them and claimed their empty shells for our own."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "We?" he asked from beneath his helm.

"You hadn't guessed," she said.

May and Ash both shook their heads but the former spoke first. "Lavender fell more than a century ago, I thought."

"It did," Agatha confirmed. "And Cerulean was destroyed days ago, but many of its people survived their city's fall and will continue on calling themselves Ceruleans. Lavender did fall, but its inhabitants carried on and endured, integrating into other tribes and peoples."

"But not you," said Ash.

Agatha smirked. "No," she said. "Not me. I remember the day Lavender's gates fell. I remember the flood of barbarians that swept into its streets. And I remember completing the summoning that raised all of my dead soldiers from their rest to slaughter everything within the city's walls and turn it into the Bonegarden it is now..."

Ash stood silent for a moment. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Old enough," answered the Crone, "to have witnessed the history of my people pass into the myth of yours." She turned her attention back to the walls of the distant castle. You know better than most I imagine that people who spend enough time around a certain kind of Pokemon begin to take on its features. Did you also know that the royalty of Lavender favored ghosts as their servants? Silent, powerful, and most of all, nearly immortal, the ghosts of Lavender were the edge we needed to control the continent."

"Immortal being the most important component," Ash noted.

"Indeed," said the old woman. "Believe it or not, 'Agatha' was not my first name, nor was it my second. To maintain the illusion of mortality and thus placate the serfs, we would feign our own deaths once every thirty or forty years, and return after a decade or so under a new name as a new heir to our own thrones. Barring random violence, disease, or betrayal, we could, and did, rule for a century or more at a time. Only the Dragon Lords of the west could match us in that regard."

"So," Ash muttered, "what was your first name?"

The old woman smirked. "Tanya Rex." Her smirk widened some when she heard realization dawn in Ash's catching breath. "Yes, of relation to Fers Rex's: his eldest daughter actually."

May stepped forward. "This is all well and good," she said, shifting her helmet from beneath one arm to beneath the other, "but until we deal with Mewtwo, Team Rocket isn't going to give me an army, and until I have an army, I can't get back to Hoenn. Can we maybe get moving?"

Agatha agreed and all three trainers went to their belts for pokeballs, though Ash paused longer than his companions, staring at the ground. "Agatha," he said, waiting until she acknowledged him with a nod of her head. "Your father, did he ever talk to you about-"

"The Sun Soul?" Agatha interrupted. "The artifact you're seeking?" she paused when Ash stood silent as a golem in his armor. "No, he didn't. But I read about in the journal he passed to me."

Ash paused a moment longer as May watched from a few paces away. "Is that why you're coming with us?" he asked. "Are you after..." he trailed off.

The old woman took a deep breath. "No," she answered, meeting Ash's gaze through his vizor. "I can understand why you'd be nervous. It would be tempting for someone in my position, an exiled queen faced with her own creeping mortality to try and reclaim her old glory with her family's long-forgotten weapon..." she stopped and took another breath before putting one hand up to her mouth and clearing her throat. "Really though, when you've lived as long as I have, death, especially a quiet one at the hands of a largely painless illness is not a terrifying thought."

Ash again removed his helmet. "I'm sorry," he said almost reflexively. "I didn't know."

Agatha sighed. "Oh dear, the conspiracy's exposed," she waved her hand dismissively. "It's hardly common knowledge. Now," she looked towards the castle walls. "I think May's right," Agatha glanced towards the younger girl as a satisfied scoff escaped her. "We should probably get moving," she said, going to her belt for a pokeball.

Touching down on the wall of white stone, Pidgeot's talons clicking on the high ramparts, Ash paused and surveyed the courtyard beyond. His breath would have stuck in his throat had he been able to begin to draw breath at all. Beyond the citadel's massive curtain, a tremendous plaza the color of a sandy beach sat smeared and spattered with countless streaks of red and brown. Dried putrescence and grime, drag marks a hundred feet long, and hand prints clawing desperately at the ground.

The young trainer swallowed hard, glad his helm's tinted visor stood between his eyes and the scene. "What the hell happened here?" he muttered.

Immediately Ash felt Haunter's consciousness tugging at his own. _The psychic_, growled the ghost. _Taking the bodies alive._Ash could feel Haunter's distress. _Processing... like a slaughterhouse._

Agatha cleared her throat. "Come. We should hurry and get-"

Piercing the silence, a howling shriek clawed at the trainers' ears. Immediately Agatha and Ash pressed their palms to their heads, desperately trying to block out the sound as May buckled in Swellow's saddle.

Ash's hand went to his belt and he drew out a pokeball, snapping it open, a torrent of white light flooded into the air and began glowing red. As Charizard's roar of challenge answered the mind numbing shriek, Ash managed to open one eye just as a dark cloud of flapping wings and jostling airborn bodies flooded out of the gates on the inner walls of the citadel. The young trainer turned his head, every degree of motion feeling like a knife stabbing his neck as the shrieking grew louder and made his muscles lock. Looking to the countless windows of the city of spires behind, Ash saw yet more dark figures flooding into the air.

Like a swarm of bats the clouds of creatures swirled up and around. Ash ripped his helmet from his head as Pidgeot swooned and threatened to collapse. His eyes instinctively screwed themselves shut as his hands of their own will began to claw at his ears. He heard a roar and felt a rush of heat, but couldn't open his eyes to see. Then something pressed against his head, as cold as ice but less substantial than fog. Immediately Ash's whole world went silent save for the ringing that pervaded the silence.

Haunter's voice reached his mind. _Deaf now,_said the ghost.

"What!" Ash screamed, his eyes snapping open just in time to see the purple hand dissolving into the violet cloud around him. The young trainer gasped several breaths in rapid succession. He realized he hadn't heard himself speak. He hadn't heard anything at all.

_Need you focused,_said the ghost. _Medicine will heal after silence the psychic._

Ash felt a warm trickle from both his ears. He didn't need to look to know what dripped from them as he looked around the silent world. He felt another rush of heat followed by a dull thud of rushing air. Chairzard, he saw, had engaged the bats, each a creature that must have once been a Zubat, though their blue hide had since gone black with a sickly pallor. The dragon's maw opened wide and his head swept from side to side, building a dome of choking flame around the trainers, keeping the bats at bay.

Gasping as his weight dropped, Ash collapsed to the ramparts beneath him as Pidgeot went down, her eyes twitching and her legs madly flailing, their talons carving shallow trenches in the stone. "The screeching," Ash hissed, grabbing a pokeball and snapping it open. The tremendous bird vanished into the light that retreated to the confines of the sphere, leaving Ash on his side. He looked up and through the purple miasma concealing her, saw Agatha. Her eyes bright with anger, blood trickling from her ears, the ancient woman swung her leg onto the back of her Crobat and took to the air. Reaching behind her back, Agatha drew out a pair of pokeballs and snapped them open. Two Golbat, each larger than a grown man, materialized and joined the fray. The enormous bats rolled and swooped and dodged, catching the smaller bats between their jaws and snapping them in two.

Looking over then, Ash saw May and Swellow, both on the ramparts and kicking themselves back up against the murder holes. The girl grabbed at her helmet and threw it to the ground, shoving her palms against her ears and screaming out. He jumped up and rushed over, shoving his hand underneath May's head and steadying her as she thrashed. "Haunter!" he shouted, deaf to his own cries and watching as the ghost's hand began to move even before he finished the command.

Reaching, Hauter passed his hand through May's skull from one ear to the other. Instantly the girl ceased retching and looked up. She mouthed something at Ash and her eyes went wide when the realization struck her.

"I know," Ash mouthed, hoping that May could understand. He watched for some sign in her eyes and went on when she nodded. "This way."

As a wave of frigid air struck the two young savants, Ash and May looked back and saw Agatha, suspended in the air by a purple mist and surrounded by four glowing red orbs. Immediately the ghostly shield around May vanished and another wave of cold air pulsed from Agatha. All of the mutated Zubat homed in on the old woman, swarming around her like maddened hornets.

Agatha shouted something the deafened trainers couldn't make out, though Haunter quickly translated. _Go!_the ghost's voice echoed inside both savants' minds. Reaching out and slinging one arm around May's back, Ash leapt from the top of the ramparts, shouting for Charizard as the ground raced up to meet him. The dragon, steaming, tar like saliva dripping from its jaws as it eviscerated two of the innumerable Zubat with its teeth, whirled around at the command, tucked its wings, and dove beneath Ash and May as they plummeted. Snatching them out of the air with its claws, Charizard snapped up an instant before slamming into the ground. Rolling in mid-ascent, the roaring dragon swung both trainers onto its back, where Ash reflexively leaned forward and gripped the Pokemon's shoulders as Charizard banked at breakneck speed to escape the pursuing cloud of Zubat.

As May clung tight to Ash's back, Haunter's voice again reached Ash's mind, bypassing the deafness. _The woman says run. She will cover our advance._

Ash looked back over his shoulder as Charizard swooped down and, almost skimming the ground, sped across the courtyard towards the citadel's massive doors. A cloud of the Zubat obscured all view of May's twitching Swellow for only a second before dispersing, revealing only a set of bones, loosely held together by sinew. Even the skeleton vanished when another wave of the bats descended on it, picked the bones apart, and carried them into the sky. Agatha remained in midair, surrounded by a violet haze. Her two Gengar spun around her like a whirlpool, shredding any of the bats that dared enter the purple cloud and scattering their remains violently afield. Every passing second brought another wave of bats, and as Ash watched Agatha shrinking away, he saw more of the monsters than when Agatha had first begun to cut them down as more and more Zubat flocked to join the swarm from every single window in every single building throughout Indigo.

And each wave came inches closer to Agatha before being cut away.

Looking away as both of Agatha's remaining Golbat and her Arbok on the ground succumbed and disappeared into the clouds of slashing claws and beating wings, Ash focused all his attention forward as the doors to the Citadel slapped around him. Carried by Charizard's heaving wings, the two trainers bolted through a tremendously spacious chamber lined with pillars and decorated with marble and gold. Drawn by Haunter's proddings, Ash looked up to the ceiling, seemingly impossibly high overhead, and saw the whole room crawled with monsters. Zubat the color of bleached bones, Spinarak with carapaces that gleamed like rubies, and Beedrill sporting two wickedly armed limbs too many all descended from the darkness. His path lit only by the fire tipping Charizard's tail, Ash steeled himself against the coming impact as Mewtwo's army closed in around him.

Both the young trainer and May screamed as the countless monsters battered and scraped at their armor. Ash forced his eyes to remain open, drawing out his heavy knife and hacking away the Zubat that slapped up against his visor. Charizard growled in protest as one of the myriad Beedrill landed on the back of his neck and began slashing. The dragon's hide resisted any real damage but the fury with which the Pokemon attacked opened dozens of shallow lesions. Ash leaned forward and heaved with effort to pull the creature away from Charizard as the dragon banked around a corner. Now with one hand occupied, desperately trying to hold aloft the Beedrill as it madly swiped at his face and stabbed its arms against his helmet, Ash hacked forward, driving the knife into the Pokemon's carapace and twisting the blade. Loosing a shout, Ash drove the knife through the Beedrill. It went limp as he tossed it aside, though by now half a dozen more Pokemon, Beedrill and Spinarak mostly, fell on him like an avalanche. Charizard buckled beneath the weight and crashed into the ground, skidding and rolling over several times before slamming into the base of one of the enormous room's many pillars.

His world spinning from the impact and his whole body aching from being crushed so many times between his mount and the floor, Ash lay stunned for a second. He could see Charizard trying to get back up, but the innumerable Beedrill pinned him to the ground. Ash noticed then the weight growing on his back and legs, looking around he saw Spinarak, at least a dozen of them, chewing at his armor, their teeth slicing away one thin layer at a time. Rolling to his side, Ash kicked and one of the spiders fell away, its legs turning upwards as it's carapace gave with a loud crack.

A flash of white light drew the young trainer's attention and he looked to see May, several steps away, illuminated by the blaze of one of her Pokemon taking shape. The girl's Blaziken took shape and, on an order Ash couldn't hear May scream, leapt between the downed trainer and the rest of the closing monstrosities. With one swing of its leg, Blaziken cleared the remaining spiders from Ash, their bodies exploding into dust and scraps of shell from the fiery impact, and an instant later May was at his side, one hand under Ash's arm. She lifted him up, shouting and pointing.

As he returned Charizard to his pokeball, Ash followed May's motion. A hundred yards away he saw, resting in the distant wall of the cavern, lit dimly by a single flickering emergency light, another passage way. The titanic steel door that Ash imagined once guarded the entrance to the vault lay thrown from its hinges. May mouthed something to Ash and the elder trainer grabbed another pokeball from his belt. As he released Arcanine from the ball, Ash leapt atop the Pokemon's back as may slid up behind him. The flashes of light signaled the beginning battle between Blaziken and the army of Beedrill and Spinarak.

Ash and May turned to see the fiery Pokemon spinning like a tornado, dodging this way and that, leaping into countless kicks and uppercuts that tore swath after swath through the encroaching swarm's numbers. Still though the Beedrill swooped down and the Spinarak dropped from the gloom overhead. No matter how many Blaziken killed, a dozen more took the place of the fallen between every wave. And always, one or two attacks would get through the fiery Pokemon's defenses. Int the split second Ash watched, Blaziken cut down no less than twenty attackers, but received just as many wounds that left him bleeding from the punctures and cuts. Another second passed and Blaziken tore through another ten Pokemon and received an equal number of new wounds. Already Ash could see the Pokemon beginning to shake and twitch as fatigue and poison both ate into his muscles.

May slapped her partner in the back of his helmet. Ash tore himself away from the scene, just as Blaziken looked back at his trainer, one eye beginning to swell shut from the venom. The Pokemon hissed a challenging cry and turned around, leaping forward into the cloud of Beedrill, flame and sparks rocketing from his frame, as Ash spurred Arcanine with his heels. The massive canine howled and dove for the vault's door, passing into the narrow hallway beyond only a few leaping strides later. Following the passage for several minutes, clinging tight to Arcanine's back and thanking god that the Pokemon could navigate the near pitch black hall with such ease, Ash kept his eyes pinned on the darkness ahead, barely able to see in the dim glow Arcanine radiated.

"Ash," May whispered.

The older savant turned as Arcanine ran, only then realizing that he could hear. "What?" he answered, hearing his own voice only in his own mind and suddenly perceiving the ghostly ring in his own words.

Haunter nudged Ash's mind. _Will help you and the girl hear each other, _ said the ghost.

"Ash," May repeated, the strain in her voice coming through in Haunter's translation. "Don't waste this." Her arms tightened around his waist some. "Don't you dare let this go to waste."

Ash nodded. "We won't," he said.

Arcanine ran on, passing side rooms and passages the two trainers ignored, the hall seemed to grow darker every second, the inky blackness pressing in harder on Arcanine's faint glow with very step, until at last Ash felt that the gloom had swallowed him utterly.

"Stop," he barked, making May and Arcanine alike jump. The massive canine's paws skidded on the ground, sending loose rocks scattering away. The silence that rushed in then held for only a second before breaking in the wake of a clatter like stone on stone. Tapping a button on his helmet, Ash activated the small flashlight next to his visor and lit up the ground, or more accurately, the complete lack thereof directly in front of Arcanine. The trainers and the Pokemon stood on the edge of an abyss that opened up from nowhere before them and stretched off as far in any direction as Ash's light reached. Angled straight down, Ash's light highlighted the tiny stones flung from Arcanine's path that bounced and clattered off the chasm's wall as they fell. Whimpering and immediately backing away from the drop, Arcanine cautiously looked back at the trainers on his back. Dismounting, Ash and May both walked to the edge of the abyss and, as May activated her own helmet light, studied the drop.

"No way to tell how far down," May muttered.

Ash nodded, making the shadows of the sharp rocks jutting out from the walls dance in chaotic dervishes. "No stairs that I can see," he answered. "Guess we fly?"

May shrugged. "Makes sense to me." She went to her belt as Ash returned Arcanine to his pokeball. Both trainers released their flighted mounts, May electing for Swellow, while Ash chose Charizard. "Just be careful," the girl nudged Ash's arm.

Grinning beneath his helmet, Ash nudged her back. "I didn't know you cared," he teased.

"Well," May's tone grew sarcastic. "If something happens to you then I don't get my army of Rockets to take Hoenn back."

Ash nodded. "If this all works out for the best," he said quietly, "maybe Janine and I will follow you out there. I'm not sure I really want to spend a whole lot more time in Kanto."

Putting a hand on Ash's shoulder, May gave her partner a reassuring shake. "You're welcome to come along. And once I'm queen, you'll want for nothing as long as you're my guest."

"Come on," Ash swung a leg over Charizard's back as the glowing dragon snarled. "We've got to stop Mewtwo before we start planning to make you queen."

Agreeing, May hopped on Swellow's back and together the trainers and their Pokemon dove over the edge and began circling down the depths of the colossal stone funnel. As they spiraled downwards, their Pokemon gliding on the warm updrafts slowly rising from the cavern's throat, Ash couldn't help wondering how Mewtwo had moved his armies up from such depths. Gradually he concluded that there must be other exits from the Deep Roads connected to Malebolge. That thought stuck in his mind like a cold dart.

_I'm really doing it,_ the young trainer thought as Charizard circled downwards among the twisting shadows and countless crags. _This is really Malebolge. I've been planning this for more than a year... and here it is now... all around-_

Haunter's terse interruption broke Ash's concentration. _Trouble,_ the ghost hissed, causing both Ash and May to jerk their gazes upwards. Ash's breath stuck in his chest. Swooping out of the darkness an enormous creature, a monster larger than any Pokemon Ash had ever seen lunged for him, wings stretched so wide their flexing talons scraped the walls of the pit. This, Ash's gut told him, must be the guardian Mewtwo had been created to destroy.

"Shit," Ash said, almost under his breath. He felt Charizard's muscle's heave beneath him as the dragon, itself only slightly longer from tooth to tail than just one of the guardian's fangs, banked hard and dodged only an instant before the guardian's jaws snapped closed. "May!" Ash shouted, turning when he sensed the terror shattering his partner's calm. "Go ahead. I'll handle this one!"

May nodded and spurred Swellow, prompting the bird to tuck its wings and dive headlong into the darkness below. "Be careful!" her voice echoed through Haunter's words into Ash's mind. "That's an Aerodactyl, an ancient one! Don't let it grapple you!"

_No shit!_Ash cursed, his head ringing with the impact as Charizard slammed up against one of the cavern walls and rolled out of the way as the Aerodactyl's tail smashed into the wall where the smaller dragon had sheltered only an instant before.

Loosing a roar that made the whole pit shake, its claws dug into the walls to hold it aloft, the Aerodactyl swept at Charizard and Ash again and again. Each swing of its tail tore through the stone walls and sent a spray of rock tumbling out into the blackness. Eyes burning purple, the Aerodactyl tracked its prey as Charizard, his own talons digging into the stone walls like knives into foam, climbed this way and that, never able to buy the precious second necessary to flap its wings to take to the air.

"This is bullshit," Ash gasped as Charizard leapt out of the way and again Aerodactyl's tail crushed into the wall. The resultant tremor through the trainer so hard against the straps of his saddle the buckles snapped and Ash lashed out to catch himself on one of Charizard's horns. The dragon roared in both protest and surprise as Ash dangled. "Utter bullshit," he whispered, looking up as the Aerodactyl swung its tail to strike again.

Screaming as he let go, Ash flung himself out into the darkness, away from Charizard as the dragon leapt away from Aerodactyl's tail. When the tremendous club struck Ash, the trainer's world instantly went black. He crashed into the stone wall, smashed between sheer rock and a hide just as hard. His helmet's visor creaked and cracked, a hard white line appearing from one corner to the other, but Ash held tight. His hands locked around sharp protrusions in the Aerodactyl's carapace and Ash held on as the Aerodactyl began trying to shake him off. Several more times Ash found himself thrashed against the wall, each blow shaking his world and worsening the already numbing headache clawing at his focus.

"Haunter!" Ash shouted, looking up, seeing the monster above him opening its jaws, and knowing what would come next as an infernal light began to burn at the back of the Aerodactyl's throat. "Haunter! Do something!" He only hoped his distraction was buying Charizard some time.

A split second later, a purple mist exploded around the Aerodactyl's head, rushing inward at its glowing eyes. Daggers of fuchsia energy stabbed through the mist and lanced into the enormous Pokemon's eyes. The Aerodactyl growled and hissed, jerking its head upwards and belching up a cone of searing flame that lit up the abyss of black stone as far as Ash could see in any direction.

_Not enough damage,_Haunter grumbled. _Can't hurt it. Psychic protecting._

"Goddamn it!" Ash screamed. Gritting his teeth and steeling himself he reached up and locked his fingers around another sharp protrusion from the ancient Pokemon's hide. Heaving himself up he climbed a few long arm lengths higher, looked up, and screamed as the Aerodactyl bent down, jaws open wide to snap him up.

Like a crimson arrow Charizard shrieked a challenge and slammed into the Aerodactyl's skull, knocking its head to one side and impacting with such force the ancient Pokemon lost its balance and stumbled, one wing fumbling its grip. The Aerodactyl fell to one side, bashing its head against one of the jutting spikes of stone before catching itself. Dark blood streaming from the wound, the Pokemon reared back and roared again as Charizard latched onto its skull. Sucking in a breath, the fiery dragon wrenched forward and vomited up a scorching spray of burning froth.

"That's my number one," Ash growled beneath his helmet, resuming his climb up the Aerodactyl's tail and reaching its back as Charizard continued to blast the guardian Pokemon with fire. "Torch it."

Reaching the center of the Aerodactyl's back, Ash clung tight as the enormous monster flew into a rage, thrashing about and slamming its head and shoulders into the walls, falling, sometimes fifty feet at a time in an effort to get Charizard away. Ash heaved and coughed, his head spinning as each new impact and plummet threatened to throw him out into the empty air. Reaching behind his back the young trainer drew out his knife and with all his strength drove the blade into the Aerodactyl's back. He could feel the blade warping from the resistence but pushed on, clinging to the handle as the weapon it stuck fast in a bone.

Still falling and tumbling, spiralling downwards and raging to throw Charizard away, the tremendous creature hissed and spat as the dragon on its skull bit and clawed and bathed it in flame. Slapping the Aerodactyl with its wings to fan the flames, driving them to an intensity that seared flesh through to the bone, Charizard refused to be driven off. Blind and numb to the impacts of the stone walls, Charizard fought on. When Aerodactyl finally caught itself, ending the descent and nearly throwing Ash off, its talons tore trenches a foot across and thirty feet long. Lashing out and chomping down, the Aerodactyl caught Charizard's front leg between its teeth and threw its head around, tearing Charizard loose and flinging him around like a toy.

Charizard screamed in short bursts, only stopping when Aerodactyl's thrashing threw it against the stone walls, only to immediately resume its cries of pain a second later. Ash watched in horror as Charizard's resistance grew weaker. Fighting for each breath as he climbed higher, Ash could only focus on grabbing the next rough spot in Aerodactyl's armor and pulling himself one arm's length further up as Charizard's struggle diminished with each passing second. Reaching the monstrous Pokemon's neck, Ash reached out and grabbed hold of its jaw as the Aerodactyl opened its maw to spit Charizard's limp frame into the blackness below.

With a scream of wordless fury, Ash locked his fingers around one of the titanic monster's teeth and heaved himself up into the Aerodactyl's mouth, firmly planting his feet on either side of the Pokemon's tongue. Pulling a pokeball from his belt, Ash pressed the button on the center band and flung it forward.

"Want to make a meal of me!?" Ash bellowed as the pokeball disappeared down the Aerodactyl's throat and snapped open. "Fine! Enjoy!"

Blinding white light flooded out of the tremendous Pokemon's mouth and its neck began to bulge outward. Aerodactyl snapped its head back, flinging Ash out into the gloom where he slammed into the wall of the abyss and began to free fall, all his pokeballs knocked from his belt and scattered into the darkness. As he looked up though, the young trainer watched as the Aerodactyl's throat puffed out with a massive bulge, contracted back once in protest, then exploded open in a spray of blood and bits of gore. Snorlax, rending claws hacking and slashing, his sheer bulk shredding the ancient Pokemon's throat, catapulted out and immediately began to fall. But so did the Aerodactyl, its head flopping loosely about on what remained of tendons and scraps of muscle. Blood, gallons of it, sprayed from the stump and fell like rain.

Plummeting down, Ash breathed a quick sigh of relief and relaxed into the fall. There was nothing for it, he thought. For an instant he thought of calling out for Haunter but before the thought could germinate he smashed into one of the sharp crags protruding from the wall. Instantly his world dissolved into darkness and cold. Demolishing the crag, Ash's limp body tumbled and fell into the blackness of the abyss.


	35. Chapter 35

AN: Yeah, the proofreading on that last chapter was a little sloppy so I apologize. That said, I'm glad to see the story still has a following even after the better part of a year of inactivity and general douchebaggery on my part.

Peace All!

* * *

Chapter 35 - The Mover Of Pawns

Another hard impact slapped Ash back to consciousness, then he began to sink. Opening his eyes Ash saw only darkness. His numbed mind took a moment to realize he was slowly floating downwards through pitch colored water, and a moment longer to grasp that he couldn't breathe. Sinking, blind, deaf, his heart began to race and the young trainer, terror stabbing into his mind, reached up to his helmet and slid open the little valve beneath his chin.

Immediately a puff of hot but breathable air filled his helmet. The savant sucked in a heaving gasp of the air as his suit's internal rebreather stirred to life. A second later he flicked the switch on his temple and reactivated the tiny flashlight above his right ear. A little cone of light illuminated his dirty and murky surroundings and Ash thanked all his luck the device still worked. Only then he noticed the fiery pain pressing in at him from every angle. His head burned, his back felt broken at every vertebrae, every muscle protested the slightest move, and Ash, still canned in his armor, screamed for the pain. He pressed his eyes so tightly shut his headache worsened and thrashed in the water despite his body's complaints.

Before he had time to sink much farther, Ash felt a ripple through the water. His heart falling into his stomach, he looked up and saw in the gloomy water some fifty feet above him, a dark shape rapidly growing larger as it approached him.

"Snorlax?" Ash muttered, the new wave of adrenaline in his blood lessening the pain. He looked up a second later and saw another dark shape, this one far larger than Snorlax appear overhead. Then he felt the shockwave of the Aerodactyl's enormous body crashing into the underground lake. "Shit," he muttered.

Kicking feverishly and pumping with his arms, Ash tried to swim out of the way as the enormous corpse fell towards him. He hadn't gotten far enough, and as the Aerodactyl passed him the enormous Pokemon's wing swept down over Ash like a stone net, plunging him farther down and tossing him around, sweeping all sense of balance or direction from the young trainer's mind. Fighting like a man possessed, Ash grabbed hold of one of the Aerodactyl's talons and attempted to throw himself out from underneath the dead Pokemon. He succeeded.

Gasping as if he'd broken through the surface of the water, Ash escaped the Aerodactyl's wing and turned his head to watch as it sank lower. He couldn't see Snorlax. Breathing heavy, Ash looked around for any bottom to the lake or visible ceiling overhead. He saw neither. Only darkness waited for him at the end of his flashlight's dim cone.

_I'm going to drown here,_Ash thought, reaching out for Haunter and feeling nothing. He felt along his belt, hoping perhaps to find Vaporeon's pokeball, but finding nothing in its place. He struggled for a minute, trying to swim up, but finding the armor too heavy a burden with which to ascend. _But I can't take it off,_the young man realized he'd been sinking faster than he could climb for longer than he could hold his breath. _I'm going to die here, like this,_the thought chilled him to his core. _Pathetic..._

Before he could sink much farther into melancholy, Ash felt a slight tug at his armor. He turned his head, tears stopping half formed in his eyes, but saw nothing. The pull was definitely there however. A strong but gentle current drawing him slowly in some direction, which he couldn't tell. He didn't fight it. Anything he thought, was better than fighting right now. He sighed, reaching up to wipe the salty streaks from his face, remembering a second too late the armor that completely encased him.

Then the current grew stronger.

Ash looked around him as the gentle motion of the dark water pulled him faster than before, to where he couldn't see, though the buffeting sensation became plain through his armor.

Almost before he could register what he saw, the bottom of the lake, a bed of stone black as obsidian, raced up and smacked into Ash. The current, having long since swept away any loose stone or sediment, blew fiercely now at Ash, throwing him along the ground like the winds of a hurricane. He heaved and tried to fight the water as it propelled him along. A moment later the floor began to curve up then sharply down as the bottom of the lake terminated in a long break with the walls rushing towards Ash. The young trainer saw the frothing water now as gravity sucked it down the canyon. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around them as the current sucked him through the gap between the lake bed and the obsidian wall.

Wincing in pain after a short drop as he struck the floor hard, Ash lost his grip on himself and uncurled from his fetal position. Flailing helplessly as the water picked up speed, racing him past sharp rocks that jutted from the floor and ceiling alike, Ash couldn't muster the strength to fight the current. Twisting and turning like a maze, the cavern slapped by Ash at ever greater speeds. Every second or more it seemed to the savant a rock would explode out of the ground, right into his path and he could do nothing to avoid the impact. Each time he hit the protrusions or the wall, each time he was thrown violently against the ceiling or slammed against the floor, it seemed to threaten harder to break him in two.

Racing along, Ash reached out for one of the croppings of stone. He caught it in the crook of his elbow, only to be excruciatingly torn off and flung on his way. His arm snapped back so hard it spun Ash like a top and he slammed the side of his head into the floor. Instantly his world began spinning in all directions at once and his flashlight went out. Gasping for air but finding none, Ash closed his eyes, sure that his arm had been shattered if not torn cleanly off, and resigned himself to being either drowned or bludgeoned to death.

The young trainer's eyes snapped open when he felt the weightlessness take him. Flung by the current out into the open air, Ash sensed himself falling, careening through the darkness and tumbling head over heels. Falling for second after second, the young trainer knew this had to be the end. He struck the water below with a dizzying thud, and sank like a stone. Again he could feel a current pulling him along towards another funnel. Gasping and again clawing at the water, Ash closed his eyes and simply flailed, grasping for anything around but finding absolutely nothing with which to save himself.

Something locked around his hand.

Ash's eyes bolted open and in his panic, he saw out of the blackness, a bare hand grabbing his wrist. Vice-like in its strength, the hand, attached to an arm shrouded in a white coat pulled Ash up in jerking but freakishly strong motions.

"Ash!" a man's voice called out of the dark. "Ash where are you!?"

"Grandpa!" Ash screamed, finally realizing the true extent of the pain searing through his body. "Grandpa! Help me!"

"Merciful gods, Ash, what happened to you?" Professor Oak's voice reached Ash through the blackness.

"I fell!" Ash pressed his eyes shut as tight as he could as raw strength continued pulling him towards the surface. "I fell. I'm trapped grandpa. I can't move. It hurts too much."

"Ash, what happened to you?" the wizened trainer's voice again echoed in Ash's mind.

Ash choked on the lump in his throat. "I fell," he repeated. "I broke. I gave up." The young trainer began to hiccup and fight back tears, going utterly limp, though the powerful strokes of his saviour pulled him along. "I can't..." he trailed off.

"Ash, what happened to you?" Oak's voice repeated once more.

Voice breaking completely, Ash reached to put one hand over his face. "I've never saved anybody," he gasped. "Not Pikachu, no one in Pallet. I couldn't save Misty. I couldn't even save mom. Grandpa. I'm... I'm a failure."

The young trainer felt solid ground brush his legs as he was pulled up on some kind of shore. "Ash," Oak's voice rung again. "What happened to you?"

When the dragging stopped, Ash opened his eyes. Arcanine, his fur glowing dimly stood with the trainer's arm in his mouth, whimpering and pawing at the ground. The massive canine set Ash's arm down and stepped over his trainer, turning around once as of to bed down the grass that wasn't there, and sitting down, wrapping around Ash like a wolf around his pup in the process.

Taking a deep breath, Ash sniffed back a final sob and reached up. Pulling off his helmet he set the battered bit of armor aside, ran his hands up into Arcanine's mane, and pulled himself deeper into the Pokemon's warm fur as Arcanine's tail began to thump the ground. At that point Ash noticed the dim glow in the air came not from Arcanine, but rather from the flickering flame atop Charizard's tail, the light reflecting softly off Arcanine's mane. The dragon, unconscious, lay a few feet away, positioned too gently to have landed there haphazardly.

Ash looked up at Arcanine. "Did you save him, too?"

Arcanine's tail thumped a little faster. Ash lay there for a minute, focusing on nothing but breathing and staring down at the black sand on which he lay. A dull rumble slowly rose in the background, and Ash sat up.

"I can hear," he muttered. He turned and saw behind him, barely visible in the colossal cavern, an enormous waterfall. It ran as far as Ash could see in the limited light in either direction and just as high, crashing down into the pool from which Arcanine had pulled him. Where the water went from there, Ash couldn't tell. "A little," he muttered. What he guessed should have been a deafening roar from so much water barely registered in his hearing. "Better than nothing," he said, pushing himself up to his feet and growling with the effort as his entire body protested.

Charizard coughed and hacked, opening one eye only part way. Ash hobbled to the dragon's side and put one hand on his ribs. Charizard opened his eye fully then, setting his head back down on the sand as he looked up at Ash. The dragon growled and closed his eyes, but continued breathing while the young trainer surveyed the damage. Charizard's wings remained mostly intact. A few lacerations, washed clean by the water had already scabbed over. His scaly armor looked to be more or less undamaged, but Ash winced when he moved to Charizard's other side and saw the damage done to his Pokemon's arm. The limb lay broken and twisted at an odd angle, withered almost, and Ash's heart sank to see it.

"I'm so sorry," the young trainer muttered. He reached out to put a hand on Charizard's arm, but recoiled when he thought better of it. A moment later the dragon stirred and, with a grumble, tried to push himself up. The dragon hissed as soon as he put weight on the broken limb and fumbled back down to the sand, a motion that sent Ash scurrying backwards to give the Pokemon a berth.

Charizard propped himself up on his good arm and craned his neck to observe the damage. Eyes narrow and sharp, he looked intently at the way his arm twisted sharply backwards at the elbow. He shifted his weight and braced his shoulder against a rock protruding from the sand and, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, fell downwards. The dragon howled as his elbow snapped again, this time back into the proper position and he lay there for a long minute, breathing heavily.

Slowly moving forward, Ash put a hand on the Pokemon's shoulder again and studied his Pokemon. Charizard's arms looked the same now, though Ash could only imagine the pain Charizard had endured to get them that way. He sighed and let the Pokemon rest, turning away and shifting his attention when a small glint of light caught his attention.

Followed by Arcanine, Ash stumbled along the black beach for a few yards and dropped to his knees beside the little purple shard that glittered among the countless grains of obsidian. Brushing the debris away, Ash drew in a breath, astonishment playing on his features. There, unceremoniously in the sand, lay the Masterball. He reached down and picked it up, holding it before his face in the dim light and instinctively checking along his belt.

"This is it then," he said, finding a single empty pokeball at his hip and watching the Masterball glitter in the light from Charizard's tail. "One shot." He clipped the orb to his belt. "Thanks grandpa."

Ash and Arcanine both whipped around as a heavy splash echoed in the enormous chamber. Arcanine, up on alert in an instant barked once and before Ash could say a word, bolted off towards the water. Leaping through the air and diving into the water like a falling spear, Arcanine disappeared beneath the murk. Ash watched for a second, stunned, looking between the water and Charizard, who also sat up alert and watching the surface of the lake.

Bursting up to the surface, a massive clawed hand tugged at the air as if to pull itself up higher. Ash rushed to the edge of the water as his Snorlax pulled itself ashore, Arcanine underneath its belly and helping the massive Pokemon to land. The canine Pokemon dodged out of the way as Oz collapsed and heaved up a stomach-full of water and other slightly less pleasant smelling things. The huge Pokemon took several deep breaths and collapsed, passing out on the spot. Ash stood completely still for a second, his eyes darting between Arcanine and Snorlax as the canine sat, tail thumping the ground with a satisfied look on his face.

The young trainer walked forward and rubbed Arcanine behind the ears. "Good boy," he said before turning to the Snorlax and grabbing his last pokeball. Snapping the orb open, Ash pointed the device at Oz and almost immediately the giant creature disappeared into the ball. Clipping it back to his belt, Ash glanced at the pokeball only once before returning to Charizard, and sitting down. Leaning against the dragon, Ash took the Masterball and began rolling it over in his hands as Arcanine vigilantly paced out a perimeter around his injured companions.

Images of Janine, May, Giovanni, Mewtwo, and dozens of other characters running through his mind, Ash closed his eyes and took the next few hours to rest and compose himself. Gradually his aching began to fade and Ash breathed easier. As the pain seeped away, a numbness replaced it. Ash realized as the minutes rolled by that his fingers had gone numb. Holding his hands before his face he touched his fingertips together, or tried to, only to find most of his coordination gone. His feet and most of his left leg were likewise numb and sluggish.

"Great," he muttered. "I'm never going to get out of this place." He pushed himself to his feet and paced about, measuring his steps and ensuring that the creeping numbness wouldn't spread. More than once he stumbled, his legs feeling unevenly heavy and his hands cold and uncoordinated, but the problem remained constant, localized where he first noticed it.

Turning around as a familiar, ethereal, voice reached him, Ash stated into the darkness as a cold presence approached. _Human! Human!_Haunter shouted, his voice sharp and curt. _Human! The girl and the man, the girl and the man, _the ghost stopped in front of Ash and became visible, a truncated head and floating purple hands, his sudden appearance making Arcanine and Charizard both jump to attention.

"Slow down," Ash held his hands out as Haunter's shape solidified some. "What's going on?"

_The girl and the man, engaged the psychic. All fighting. We are losing._

Ash's eyes went wide and he ran to the edge of the lake, watching every step to make sure he didn't fall. Snatching up his helmet and holding it beneath one arm, the young trainer swung one leg over Arcanine's back and looked between his mount, Charizard, and the ghost.

Nodding to Charizard as the dragon got to its hind legs and snarled, eyes narrowing, Ash looked back to Haunter. "Lead the way."

Snarling a challenge as Haunter sped away, Arcanine bolted after the ghost while Charizard half-ran half-flew to keep pace. The party reached the edge of the enormous cavern, its walls arcing so high overhead Ash couldn't see the ceiling, and Haunter guided them to a crevice between two crags that proved just wide enough for Arcanine and Charizard to clear. The passage beyond followed the upward slope of the previous cavern for a hundred yards or so before reaching its zenith and angling sharply down. Replacing his helmet, Ash began to worry as the steepness of the slope would send Arcanine into a tumble, but the Pokemon's paws caught every foothold and dodged every hazzard. Charizard likewise compensated when the footing grew almost too steep to manage. Flaring his wings and catching every outcropping, he followed the ghost and his trainer deeper into the cavernous gullet.

Ash braced himself as Arcanine followed Haunter, leaping through a hole in the floor, and falling for the better part of twenty feet before landing as lightly as a bird on the stone floor of another tunnel beneath. "Here we go," he muttered, looking far down the tunnel, lit as it was by a dull purple glow that hung all throughout the air at the top of the tunnel.

Haunter paused and Ash could sense the hesitation in the ghost's words. _Psychic this way._

Steeling himself and straightening up on Arcanine's back, Ash patted his mount's sides with his heels as Charizard landed behind them. "This might be our last fight," he looked around at his Pokemon. "Let's make it count."

Arcanine's lip tugged up in a low snarl as he walked forward. Charizard dropped to all fours and pressed his wings back against his body, no noticeable limp in his injured leg, while Haunter fell back behind Ash and the other monsters to bring up the rear. Their footsteps thunderous in the silence, the party paced down the tunnel, none hearing any sign of battle, towards the empty door at the end of the passage. As they neared the door, Ash could see through the portal a tremendous chamber beyond, and as the group passed under the archway, the young trainer couldn't help a quick and awed look around.

The main entrance stood more than fifteen feet wide and twice as high, but the sheer size of the chamber beyond made it look like little more than a chip in an otherwise flawlessly smooth wall. Stretching out a hundred yards to the right, just as far to the left, and twice that high, the room's walls glittered like amethysts next to a fire in the violet light of countless floating orbs, ranging in size from smaller than a grain of sand to as large or bigger than Ash's Snorlax. None of the lights stood still, but rather they all traced paths through the air at lazy speeds. The display made Ash's jaw go slack.

"Do you like my planetarium?" A familiar cool and measured baritone echoed through the room, chilling Ash when it reached his ears.

As he looked down then from the display of lights overhead, Ash watched while a figure, shaped much like a man but taller and sporting a tail twice as long as its body stood up from its sitting position in the center of the room without turning its gaze away from the circular pool of water in the middle of which it rested.

"Mewtwo," Ash asked calmly, "I take it?"

The creature hovering a hairsbreadth above the pool turned its horned head and looked directly at Ash. Its two enormous purple eyes opened wider for a second before narrowing. It nodded. "Indeed." It turned its full frame, a structure of wiry muscles bundled tightly beneath grey skin, towards Ash and walked along the surface of the pool. Crossing the ten feet of water and touching down on solid ground, Mewtwo studied Ash for a moment while Arcanine and Charizard growled. "A pleasure to finally meet you," it inclined its head slightly to Ash, "face to face that is. I had thought the Guardian would finish you. This is certainly a pleasant surprise."

Ash stepped down from Arcanine. "Cut the civility act," he raised his voice. "Where's May?" he looked around the room. "Where's my father?"

"There's no reason we can't be civil, carry this out with grace," Mewtwo said, turning and pointing his hand, which Ash now saw had only three exceptionally long fingers towards a tremendous double door on the far end of the room. "They're beyond that door, safe, in my vault."

Mewtwo then waved his hand and the water in the pool behind him rose up, forming a solid sheet. A ripple disturbed its surface and Ash saw an image of both Giovanni and May, lying on beds of stone inside a chamber of purple rock. Glass lids held the two trainers on place and while May pressed out and punched at hers, Giovanni lay perfectly still, his head turned to watch May with some combination of amusement and exasperation on his features.

"They're perfectly unharmed," Mewtwo went on, dropping his hand back to his side at the same time the water splashed back into the pool.

Ash stood for a moment. Unsure exactly how to proceed, he took several steps forward. With one hand he motioned for Arcanine and Charizard to remain where they were and with the other he readied as subtly as he could to grab the Masterball behind his back. "Alright," the young trainer said, approaching within a few paces of Mewtwo. "You want to be civil, we can be civil. It doesn't look like violence got May or Giovanni anywhere anyway."

"Good," Mewtwo answered, turning back to the pool of water and looking intently down at its surface. "Despite to what you must be thinking, I have no love of destructive means. Neither however do I have any choice in this matter."

Leaving a few steps between himself and Mewtwo, Ash stepped up next to the pool and looked down at the surface. His breath catching, Ash reached up and pulled off his helmet for a better look. Across the top of the pool, dozens of different images flashed and faded into and out of existence. Some lasted only a few seconds, while others remained as long as Ash looked down at them.

The young trainer swallowed the lump in his throat. "What am I looking at?" he asked.

"Perspectives," Mewtwo answered. "The countless eyes of those carrying on my conflict."

As Ash watched one display in particular he realized the events unfolding were from the perspective of some flying Pokemon. The young trainer watched as the Pokemon observed a vicious battle taking place beneath, dozens of diverse monsters battled in a courtyard of white stone, beams of light and waves of fire flying with such speed and fury Ash couldn't keep up with what was going on.

"Team Rocket's Citadel in Mt. Moon," Mewtwo said without looking at Ash.

"What?" the young trainer asked.

"That one you're watching, it's one of my Golbat at the fortress in Mt Moon."

Ash's attention snapped back to the fight. "Brock," he muttered, looking between displays, hoping to catch sight of his old friend.

Mewtwo waved his hand and the whole pool changed to show a bird's eye view of the battlefield, a huge courtyard enclosed on all sides, including from above, by stone walls. On one end of the yard a set of stone doors stood wide open. Zubat, Golbat, Geodude, Raticates, Beedrill, Spinarak, and other Pokemon, each with ashen hides and glowing purple eyes stormed into the fortress, one rank after another after another. The Pokemon through whose eyes Ash and Mewtwo watched darted about the upper levels of the courtyard, hurriedly looking this way and that until it spotted an Onyx with a sharpened tail. It flew down then for a better look. Immediately Ash spotted Brock on the front lines of the conflict, his brown armor dented and in many places torn away.

The grizzled trainer, watching two men go down at his side, leapt away just as a swarm of Zubat descended. He shouted an order Ash couldn't hear before grabbing a pokeball and banishing his Onyx into its confines with a flash of white light. Immediately thereafter, Brock turned and ran for the doors on the other side of the courtyard as his line of defending trainers and their infantry support crumbled in their retreat.

Mewtwo crossed his arms behind his back. "And now the arduous chore of room-to-room fighting in a fortress meant to withstand any attack." He waved his hand again and the image changed while Ash stood frozen and silent.

This time the surface of the water reflected an image of a giant city, Saffron Ash realized, from the perspective of some Pokemon on the ground. Hordes of Raticate and Machamp and Arbok, again with pale hides and glowing eyes rampaged through the streets, while Spearow and Zubat blotted out the sky. Changing rapidly again, the pool showed another battle. This time Ash recognized some of the psychics from Sabrina's gym standing in a circle in a narrow passage the young savant guessed to be underground. The image shook and dust fell from the ceiling as the psychics, focusing on maintaining a purple barrier blocking the passage, held hands and chanted words Ash couldn't hear. Beside them stood men in Sabrina's fine armor, wielding spears and hammers alongside Pokemon such as Growlithes and Machops. Opposite the psychics barrier a legion of Mewtwo's Pokemon waited. As their ranks parted, an enormous Machamp with all four of its hands removed and replaced with metal weapons stepped forward. The augmented Pokemon reared back with an arm that ended in a wicked steel spike and punched forward. The spike struck the barrier with such force the surface rippled and a crack spread from corner to the other. Again the Machamp reared back and drove the spike into the same place, driving a hole cleanly through the barrier and sending a spiderweb of fractures across the shield. A third time the Machamp readied to strike as the psychics began to tremble, but this time lashed out with sledge that smashed through the barrier and sent shards of purple spinning into oblivion. Violence erupted instantly as both Mewtwo's army and Saffron's defenders charged each other.

Looking amongst the faces as blood spattered here and there and ran on the floor like water from a broken main, Ash spotted one familiar figure. Baily, his trademark hardhat dented and dinged, stood with a shield in one hand and a heavy club in the other. When his Pikachu fell, cut down by the enormous Machamp, Baily roared and broke rank, charging forward and bringing his club down on a Raticate's skull. The Pokemon's head deformed with the blow, blood and brain and bone scattering in all directions as Baily's blow completely demolished the creature's skull.

"Hm." Mewtwo sounded almost amused, Ash thought. "Mr. Baily has spirit."

Both Mewtwo and Ash watched with blank expressions as Baily charged the Machamp, swung his club into its leg, and sent a splatter of its blood across the floor in the process. He raised his shield and staggered from the Machamp's retaliation with its hammer arm. He tried to turn out of the blow's way as the giant Pokemon stabbed with its spike, but couldn't remove himself from the attack's path. When the spike struck his side the weapon grazed off his armor, but left a jagged tear in his breastplate and knocked Baily to the ground. Before he could recover, the Machamp stepped forward and stomped its foot down on Baily's chest. The man gasped as his weakened shell collapsed and his eyes bulged from the impact. As he struggled helplessly against the Machamp's titanic weight, a horde of Ratatta descended on him, fangs sinking seemingly without resistance into Baily's exposed face. Baily screamed and gurgled only briefly as the Ratattas took his skull apart one bite at a time, leaving in its place a bowl of bone, emptied of its contents by the ravenous monsters.

Ash turned away and Mewtwo waved his hand, banishing the display and leaving the surface of the pool blue and undisturbed.

Fighting to keep his composure, Ash only stared down at the ground. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. "What could you possibly gain from wiping us out?"

"Actually," Mewtwo held up a finger. "I stand to profit nothing from this. In fact there is quite a net loss of resources to be accounted for after this venture."

Ash turned on the tall Pokemon. "Then why?" he asked, still maintaining his composure. "Why wipe us out?"

"Survival," Mewtwo answered. "My survival. You see it's only natural that there can be only a single apex species in a given environment. Humanity has occupied that slot on this entire planet for millennia and they've proven over and over again that they are unwilling to share it. Anytime something rises to challenge them for their place as sole custodian of anything at all, they squash it. Humans as a species have only slaves and enemies. Their slaves might be happy in their station; you're Arcanine companion is a perfect example. But they are still slaves, and I will not be a slave."

Ash turned back to face the Pokemon. "No one is asking you to be a-" he stopped short and went silent.

"Realize the fallacy in your thinking, did you?" Mewtwo went on. "I was created to be a slave. Safeguards were put in place to kill me should I ever try to rise above that station. Even then I was engineered with a fatal disease already woven into my very genetic makeup to ensure I wouldn't live long enough to outgrow my place as a slave." It paused. "Fortunately, for me that is, those obstacles are easily, from my perspective, overcome."

Taking several steps away from Mewtwo Ash began pacing without looking away from the Pokemon. "So where do we go from here?" he asked. "I came down here to neutralize you one way or the other, but I'm not stupid," he made sure to keep his hands clear of the Masterball. "You took Giovanni and May together and I've got less firepower than either of them."

"On the contrary," Mewtwo went back to watching the pool as yet more images began rioting across the display. "I've seen all three of your Pokemon in action and to be perfectly honest, I'd be more inclined to fight any two of the Elite Four at once than I would to battle you even in your current state. You savants are worth taking seriously and of all the ones I've tracked, you, Ash Ketchum, are the most talented."

Ash couldn't hold back a single laugh, shifting his helmet from beneath one arm to the other. "Do you flatter all of your enemies like this?"

Mewtwo waved his hand over the pool. "I give credit where it's due." He watched for a second longer. "But to answer your previous question, where we go from here is in no small way up to you. After all, you were the one who went to all the trouble of getting yourself down here in the first place, it would be rude not to offer you some hospitality at least."

Ash had to shake his head a little, taken aback by the statement. "Hospitality?" he pressed.

"If you've had a change of heart," Mewtwo responded. "and decided to let me be, then you're welcome to stay here as long as you like. I have food and supplies, accommodations both left over from Lavender Empire and of my own fabrication. I can entertain your company or let you alone and once my business is done on the surface, it shouldn't take more than a month or two, you'll be welcome to return to the surface or stay here. Or we could fight it out and see how that goes. Really it's whatever you'd prefer."

Frozen by the offer, Ash couldn't keep his jaw from going slightly slack. "A month or two?" he asked. "What on earth are you planning to do?" the young trainer kept his eyes locked on the psychic before him.

"After I finish with the surface?" Mewtwo inquired, waiting until Ash nodded before pointing up towards the floating lights, of which there were more springing into existence every minute. "Whatever I want," it said. "I've taken a liking to mapping the sky and currently have well over nine-hundred million stars accounted for... and I estimate that's barely two percent of one percent of the stars in this galaxy alone. Even at my current rate of thirty or so stars per second, this should keep me busy for some time.

"That's not really what you're asking though," Mewtwo went on. "Am I right? You're less interested in where my plans are going from here than how they got to 'here' in the first place, correct?" The psychic stood up from gazing into the pool and turned to face Ash, emphasizing just how much taller he stood than the young trainer. For a moment he watched Ash with eyes smouldering purple before it occurred to the young trainer that Mewtwo lacked any visible mouth.

"Professor Elm," Ash said slowly, "seemed to think that you were behind pretty much all of the trouble that's been brewing for a few years. I don't suppose you'd care to expand on that theory."

"Coming from me," Mewtwo said, "would you believe whatever story I told you?"

Ash shrugged and glanced over towards where his Pokemon still sat, completely alert. "I already know you were behind war between Cinnabar and half of the rest of the world. How much more unbelievable than that could the rest be?" _Get him monologuing,_Ash thought to himself, quickly pushing the thoughts out of his head for fear of Mewtwo hearing them. "Before that though," he changed direction, "why are you being so friendly? Back at the summit in Saffron you came across like a comic book villain. I don't get the change."

"Theatrics," Mewtwo answered. "Plain and simple theatrics. An enemy of monolithic scale was the only threat against which all of the Gym Leaders and their followers, the Elite Four, Team Rocket, and all of the other various factions in Kanto would unite."

"So you wanted to unite us against you?" Ash questioned. "Why? That doesn't make any sense."

"Think about it," Mewtwo answered, turning back to the young trainer. "When faced with an infestation would you rather have to hunt down a dozen or a hundred different colonies and resistance movements, or would you prefer all of the insects in one central location where you could wipe them out in a single move? Humans you see have this quaint kind of self confidence. They think that if enough of them clump together they can overcome any threat."

Ash looked down at the floor. "You united us so you wouldn't have to hunt us all down..." he muttered.

"That is the root of it, yes," said the Psychic, his tail flicking from one side to the other. "Through a combination of theatrics and psychic suggestion I plunged Elm, until recently little more than an ambitious and cunning opportunist, into a state of such despair that his mental state shattered. He convinced himself that the only way to survive my plan was to help it along and after he reached that point, convincing him to unite Johto and Orange against Cinnabar and thus Kanto was easy. Orre was already planning an invasion," Mewtwo waved his hand over the pool as yet more purple stars appeared overhead, "so they saw a golden opportunity and leapt on it."

Staggering and wishing there was a chair on which to sit down, Ash faced the psychic. "Why Kanto?" he asked.

Mewtwo turned and met Ash's eye. "I burned the plantations east of Viridian to start a food shortage. Team Rocket stepped in and took the blame to keep everyone from panicking and bought up all the staples from elsewhere to distribute them to the public and ensure no one would starve.

"I began harvesting the Pokemon from Mt. Moon for my armies to destroy Pewter, but Team Rocket preempted me there also. They slaughtered everything I meant to harvest, preventing the destruction of the city. So, then I pitted the three sisters of Cerulean against each other to destabilize the city. I armed them for war against each other and against Pewter but again Team Rocket kept the peace. They turned Misty away, had her kill her sister, and vacated the city, leaving it to a single, exceptionally talented ruler.

Mewtwo's tail began to whip faster from side to side and Ash found it impossible to breathe. "Team Rocket built the device in Lavender to disrupt my power and check any further progress. The plague of ghosts would have claimed the lives of half a continent, but they were willing to accept such losses to stop me. When I sent you to destroy the device it cost them years worth of stockpiled resources, but still they persevered.

"They tightened their grips on Fuchsia, Vermillion, and Celadon, squeezing more resources to combat me on every front and again and again Giovanni succeeded. He never once defeated me on the battlefield, but everywhere I made a move he had pieces set up stop me.

"It had to be Kanto," Mewtwo began speaking with great intensity, "because Team Rocket is strongest here. Giovanni is strongest here. It had to be Kanto because only they could resist me. Johto, Orange, and Orre could do nothing to stop me if I turned my attention on them for more than a week. The devastation its civil wars brought reduced Hoenn to a withered shell of its former strength. Sinnoh is so remote it can't offer aid to anyone. I can deal with it at me leisure. But Kanto, central, strong, rich beyond the dreams of princes anywhere else in the world, Kanto stands as the only location on earth that could offer any meaningful fight. Even after I destabilized Celadon by putting Erika back in power, even after I robbed them of support from Vermillion and Fuchsia, still Team Rocket keeps fighting. If not for every step I took in destroying their power base and supply lines, they might still have been able to check me... but no longer.

"Now, not even Team Rocket and the Elite Four and all the Gym Leaders of Kanto can resist my armies, not with Orre and Johto and Orange pressing in at their borders from three angles... And once these human forces, all the greatest soldiers and trainers this world has to offer have beat themselves to death against each other, I will finish off the remnants, and my survival will be assured."

Ash took several steps back. He thought for what felt like minutes, almost forgetting the Masterball behind his back. "Why Saffron?" he asked, noting Mewtwo's calm returning. "Why free Sabrina?"

What could only have been a chuckle escaped Mewtwo then. "If Sabrina had died in that machine, Zapdos would have died as well." Mewtwo paused and again held his hand out towards the pool. "And I had use for Zapdos."

As the screen of water rose from the pool and formed again a solid sheet, Ash saw on the display an enormous battle at sea. Hundreds of steel ships, some of which he recognized as Cinnabar's, stood hull to hull, rammed each other, and sent boarding parties against each other, all as a swarm of Pokemon and mounted trainers fought for supremacy in the darkly clouded sky. Fires burned aboard many ships and atop spilled fuel and oil on the water's surface. Ash saw Lance and his Dragonite tearing into a ship bearing an insignia the young trainer didn't recognize. The huge dragon sat on the side of the vessel, raking it with long claws and tearing gashes some twenty feet long into its hull.

All at once, the already dark sky went black as the oil spilling from the many sinking ships. As if on cue, hundreds of bolts of lightning rained out of the clouds. The winds picked up and stirred waves that tossed some of the smaller ships about like toys. Descending from the clouds, an enormous sphere of light that Ash thought must have been at least a hundred feet across, floated into view. Inside it the young savant thought he saw a shape like a huge animal bearing many sets of wings that glowed so brightly they made the true shape of the creature impossible to divine. Lightning arced from the creature at a rate of dozens of strikes per second. Beneath it every ship burst into flames, some exploding outright. The crews on their decks, those that weren't incinerated immediately, flung themselves into the sea.

Ash watched in horror as Zapdos rained destruction on everything within sight for a moment before Mewtwo waved his hand and the screen dropped back into the pool. "You see?" said the psychic. "Controlling Zapdos, I'll destroy Orange's and Cinnabar's fleets and lay waste to the islands in the south. Soon enough, I'll have grown strong enough and then I'll awaken Moltres from her slumber beneath Cinnabar and Articuno from in the Seafoam Islands."

Looking at the ground, Ash took several long breaths. He turned and glanced at his Pokemon before looking back at Mewtwo. "Why spare me?" he asked. "Why not kill Giovanni, May, and I all now and be done with it?"

"I told you," Mewtwo answered. "My fight is with Humanity. You savants are far more advanced. I for one don't believe in different quantifiable levels of evolution, but there's no denying that savants are a step up from humans. I want to preserve you that I might watch you and learn from you, that I might gain some insight into the exact way in which evolution makes such odd bounds forward in so short a time."

Moving his hand behind his back, Ash grabbed the Masterball and took several more steps away from the psychic. As Ash took a breath, Mewtwo turned again to the pool. "So, said the young savant. "I think I understand now."

"Understand what?" Mewtwo asked.

Ash tightened his grip on the ball. "That it's been you this entire time, fucking up the world." The trainer's eyes narrowed. "And that I owe you hell!" Ash screamed and flung the Masterball forward.

Spinning through the air, the orb shot towards Mewtwo like a stone from a sling. A blinding white seam opened around its equator and the ball opened on a hidden hinge. As it neared the psychic, the Masterball unleashed a flood of burning energy that reached out for Mewtwo like the tendrils of some eldritch beast, wrapping around its ankles and elbows like ropes. and enveloping the Pokemon in a blinding corona.

Ash clenched his fists as Mewtwo disappeared in a flash of light. He raised one hand to cheer, but stopped short. All in an instant the light exploded away, leaving the Masterball hanging half open in mid air and Mewtwo standing exactly where he had been. The psychic, very casually turned around, and looked at the Masterball. Reaching out and tapping it with one finger the ball began to disassemble itself, the dozens of components hanging in the air for a second, before dropping to the ground with a light clatter.

Mewtwo then turned on Ash who stood absolutely still. "Quaint," he muttered, tone darker than before.


	36. Chapter 36

AN: Cool. Needless to say I've scrapped the whole "marathon chapter" idea. Hope no one minds. On a side note, sorry about the confusion about May's Swellows. At the time of the writing I didn't think it was odd enough to merit mention that a character would have duplicate Pokemon. Come to think of it though, none of the named characters did. Oh well, sorry bout that.

Thanks for reading.

Peace!

* * *

Chapter 36 - By Fire

Mewtwo watched Ash in silence for only a second. "As you'll have it," it said, its tone icy as it raised a hand and pointed a finger at Ash.

As the young savant went for Snorlax's pokeball, a sphere of darkness the size of a grain of sand appeared at the tip of Mewtwo's finger and shot forward. It struck Ash in the chest with a report like a clap of thunder. Ash spun backwards through the air, his world going dark around the edges as he landed some twenty feet from where he'd stood and skidded to a halt several yards farther still from the psychic. Ash watched, his vision pulsing, as Mewtwo stalked forward. Head forward, shoulders arched, fists clenched the psychic stomped forward.

As Arcanine howled a challenge and leapt in, positioning himself between Ash and Mewtwo, the trainer lashed out and threw Snorlax's pokeball. The orb snapped open, but even as light flooded across the floor, Mewtwo's eyes began to burn and smoke with an infernal purple glow. Without looking away from Ash the psychic gestured to Oz as the pokemon remained half-formed. It slashed his hand through the air and an explosion of purple light smashed into the Snorlax, sending the huge Pokemon spiralling through the air like a rag doll. After a long arc above the ground, Snorlax crashed to the stone floor, tearing up debris and throwing dust in all directions.

As it closed within a few strides of Ash, Mewtwo reached out with a glowing purple hand. Arcanine roared like a lion and bolted forward, leaping through the air with fangs bared to bite, tongue wreathed in flame. Mewtwo vanished in a blur and Arcanine's leap took it sailing only through empty air as the psychic materialized behind the massive canine, hand still outstretched. Before Arcanine touched down, Mewtwo swept a finger downward. A sheet of purple energy fizzled into existence above Arcanine and came crashing down like the head of an enormous hammer. Arcanine slammed to the ground, pinned between the sheet and floor for only a second before the hammer disappeared and left the canine stunned.

Mewtwo turned around again, its eyes widening for a split second as, rather than a helpless human, all it saw were the fanged jaws of a charging Charizard ready to close around its face. Hand snapping up, Mewtwo flashed with light and caught Charizard by the throat, holding him at bay. All of the dragon's momentum vanishing, Charizard whipped its body around and slapped at Mewtwo with its tail. The psychic failed to even flinch as a barrier of purple light sprung to life to absorb the blow. Mewtwo's eyes again burned as its fingers grew tight around Charizard's neck. The heavy dragon, held aloft as though he weighed nothing, opened its jaws unnaturally wide as a fire roared to life behind its teeth. Mewtwo raised its arm to shield its face a second too late. A jet of crimson flame slapped up against the purple shield that leapt up to stop the fire, bending the flames around Mewtwo like water around a stone.

The psychic growled and spun, bringing Charizard up in an arc over its head and slamming the dragon into the ground on its opposite side. With another thunderous crack and flash of purple light, Mewtwo sent Charizard skidding across the floor where he crashed into Arcanine. Both Pokemon yelped from the impact and tumbled across the smooth stone.

Ash pushed himself up to his side, the numbness in his hands and legs worsening, only to look up and see Mewtwo towering over him. "So now what?" Ash grumbled, meeting Mewtwo's gaze. "You kill me and there's nothing standing between you and humanity?"

Mewtwo reached down and lifted Ash off the ground by his throat. "A pity, but yes."

"What if I surrendered?" Ash choked.

Mewtwo held Ash out at arm's length, bringing its free hand up to Ash's chest where the ends of its fingers began to burn purple. "You wouldn't," it said calmly.

Ash watched as the fire in Mewtwo's hand began to burn brighter, and his shell of black armor began to flake up and burn away like paper next to a blowtorch. "Haunter!" he screamed.

A ghostly cackle, like chains being dragged through gravel and mud chortled behind Mewtwo. The psychic turned its attention on the rapidly coalescing mass of purple mist, the fire in its fingers snuffed out as though by a chill wind. Dropping Ash in a heap, Mewtwo turned and vanished a split second before Haunter's taloned hand could rake its face. Appearing a few strides behind Haunter, Mewtwo lashed out with a whip of violet light that Haunter barely managed to dodge.

Again pushing himself up to an elbow, Ash looked between Arcanine and Charizard, both battered Pokemon only now beginning to recover their footing, and Mewtwo as it dueled with Haunter. The ghost, all maniacal laughter gone, would charge forward and grab at Mewtwo with his dagger-like claws, only for the psychic to teleport a short distance away and retaliate with a bolt of purple energy or a strike from a whip of light that Haunter would narrowly manage to avoid. This dance repeated for several seconds, neither opponent landing any meaningful blow against the other.

"He's slowed down," Ash muttered, watching as Mewtwo's attacks and teleportation grew ever slightly more sluggish when Haunter neared him. "Got it," he whispered.

"Enough," Mewtwo said calmly. The room grew darker as thousands of the lights overhead flickered out of existence and Mewtwo faced Haunter without dodging away. The ghost reached for the psychic again, claws outstretched. "Congratulations," the psychic said as Haunter's talons rebounded as if from an invisible shield. "You've merited more than my passing attention."

Haunter screamed as purple fire leapt from Mewtwo's eyes and snaked through the ghost's gaseous form like angry vipers. Haunter retreated, shrieking to Ash as Mewtwo straightened up and turned back to the young trainer.

The psychic brushed one hand down its flank to clear away some dust. "Damn ghosts," it said.

Ash held his hand to one side, calling Haunter with a silent order. As if moving on its own, Ash's helmet snapped to his side and the young trainer donned the battered piece of armor. "Charizard, Arcanine," he said, looking between his two Pokemon and stepping back. "Light him up."

With no hesitation, Arcanine disappeared in a blur of speed that left footprints in the stone floor and a trail of embers in the air. He appeared behind Mewtwo, fur lit up with countless glowing embers. While Mewtwo turned and raised a hand at Arcanine, Charizard flapped his wings once and leapt through the air, closing the distance between himself and Mewtwo in an instant. Slashing its fingers through a harsh X pattern, Mewtwo unleashed a volley of purple darts at Arcanine that passed only through empty air as the massive canine disappeared in a puff of wind again.

Charizard roared his shrieking battle cry and dug his claws into the stone floor, anchoring himself and tearing up narrow trenches. Arching his neck back and snapping his horned head forward the dragon opened his jaws and spewed a volcanic mixture of glowing hot saliva and superheated breath at the psychic. Grunting as it did so, Mewtwo turned to face the blast head on, not stepping back as the flames wrapped around its invisible shield and left Mewtwo unharmed. At the same time, Arcanine reappeared behind the pychic and shook out his glowing fur. The burning embers arced in every direction as the Pokemon snarled and began closing on Mewtwo. With every step he shook himself from side to side faster and harder, flinging an ever greater volume of embers out in a continuous spray.

Mewtwo raised its other hand to point at Arcanine, summoning a purple barrier between himself and the canine that warped into a hemisphere of light around its figure. As the searing points of light stuck to the shield and the floor and continued to burn like hot coals, Charizard relented in its breath attack only long enough to suck in another belly-full of air and pull himself forward on the floor before renewing his hellish torch. Waves of heat rippling out, the flames and embers encased the psychic's shield so completely Ash only knew it was there due to the warped shape of Charizard's fire.

A few thousand more of the mapped stars overhead winked out of existence and the sphere of fire exploded out, throwing both Charizard and Arcanine away, banishing the jets of flame, and leaving Mewtwo, standing hunched with clenched fists, unharmed in the center of circular trench of melted and pooling rock. Eyes white with fire, Mewtwo stepped forward, over the rivulet of flowing and steaming stone. A purple spark leapt between its eyes and Ash rose into the air, arms snapping out to his sides as a titanic pressure crushed at his chest.

Dozens more lights vanished and Mewtwo's corona grew brighter. "Give in," the psychic's tone had grown deep; it spoke with what sounded like dozens of echoing voices, "and your suffering will be shorter-"

"Haunter!" Ash screamed. Instantly a deep purple glow, dark as to be almost black, exploded around Ash and he dropped a few feet to the ground as Haunter's misty form hung in the air around him. "Arcanine! Charizard!" Ash shouted, seeing the sweat beginning to bead on Mewtwo's arms and forehead, "keep-"

Arcanine needed no further prodding. With a furious howl and a puff of smoke as his fur burst into flames, Arcanine charged with invisible speed. A trail of smoke and embers and glowing paw prints left pressed into the stone were the only signals of the canine's movement as he rushed at Mewtwo, disappearing the instant before the psychic could strike and appearing behind it again. This time however Arcanine sprinted at an angle, drawing in his wake a fallen pillar of translucent fire in a wide circle around Mewtwo. The psychic took aim and loosed a volley of bullets that struck the stone floor like lightning bolts. Running so fast he almost completed a lap between the launching of the darts and their landing, Arcanine made no further effort to dodge them, rather focusing on continuing his laps and intensifying the circle of fire.

Charizard again dug itself in, heaved in a breath, and loosed a glowing column of heated air at Mewtwo. The flames again arced around the psychic's shield, but this time Mewtwo raised both hands as if to block the attack, sweat now pouring off its frame. Arcanine made no effort to dodge Charizard's infernal attack, rather running through the jet of fire and whipping it into his own trail of flame. When Charizard began beating its wings to further stir the flames, Mewtwo disappeared entirely behind the opaque inferno. The waves of fire spiralled around Mewtwo in Arcanine's wake, rising in pillars and spires that danced like a tremendous furnace. The stone at the edges of the pillar began to warp and run like sludge at first, but every circle Arcanine completed freed more of the rock from its solid state and after only seconds the magma flowed like water, some droplets even rose, caught up in the inferno and spun around like rain in a tornado.

Looking to his Snorlax, Ash caught the massive Pokemon's attention with a wordless shout. "Oz!" he bellowed a second later, not looking away from the image of hell before him as bolts of purple energy and spikes of lightning arced from the tower of fire in random directions, "get the door!" he pointed to massive vaulted door on the opposite end of the room. "Haunter! You know what to do!"

Oz, already staggering in the furnace into which Ash had made the room, stood up and plodded forward. Slowly at first but gaining momentum with every step, before long the Pokemon ran at a full sprint. Closing his eyes to shield them from the heat, the Snorlax lowered his shoulder and barrelled for the door.

Ash turned back to the screaming blaze. "How's that?" he shouted, knowing the psychic would hear him. "All that godly power and you can't take a little heat?" He turned away from the vault door so far away, sensing with every cell in his body the power that lay beyond it.

The whole cavern began to rumble and all at once the entire star map overhead vanished. "ENOUGH," Mewtwo's voice roared over the howl of the fires. Blasting out like a dying sun, the towering inferno exploded, sending Arcanine and Charizard tumbling away again like paper dolls in a storm. Hovering an inch off the ground, Mewtwo stared at Ash, eyes blank sheets of glowing violet light. Its once smooth and purple body now shone dull red and pink all over in the white halo of energy surrounding Mewtwo. Over most of its frame its skin had been peeled away by the heat, exposing the red flesh and blood beneath. At its outermost extremities, Mewtwo's arms and feet and the horns on its head, blood pulsed through cauterized and cracking veins into view and dripped to the ground where it sizzled and mingled with the still molten stone.

Ash took a few steps forward while Mewtwo hung silent. "Block all the fire you want! Convection's a bitch, huh." Ash shouted.

Mewtwo's halo began to burn brighter and the cavern started to shake. Dust breaking loose from the floor and floating into the air, the whole world seemed to grow silent. "In your arrogance you've tried to anger the ultimate Pokemon," the psychic's voice filled the room. "And you succeeded."

From Mewtwo's flank, Arcanine charged as Charizard tried to get back up to his feet. In a flash the psychic vanished and reappeared behind Arcanine. Mewtwo spun through the air and brought its foot down on Aracnine's back with a sickening crack. Before the canine, still mid leap, could strike the ground Mewtwo teleported again, flashing into existence beneath Arcanine and, eyes burning purple, planted its outstretched hand firmly against the Pokemon's chest. A purple explosion lit the room and Arcanine shot skywards like a rocket, too stunned to yelp in pain. Winking out of sight, Mewtwo vanished and reappeared in a flash of light high overhead. Less than a second after it landed its first blow against Arcanine the psychic angled both his hands down at the rising Pokemon. Without a sound or a gesture, Mewtwo's eyes lit up like the sun and a wave of energy, so bright purple it burned Ash's eyes through his tinted visor, shot downwards like a meteor and slammed smashed into Arcanine. Exploding with a thunderous report, the wave of energy sent Arcanine's smoking figure plummeting to the stone beneath.

Before Arcanine struck the ground, Mewtwo was gone again, this time flashing into view behind Charizard. The red dragon whirled on the psychic with fangs spread wide, his throat glowing like a furnace. A purple cloud of energy rushed from Mewtwo's palm at the dragon, twining around his jaws like chains and snapping them shut. Charizard hung in the air and jerked his body around. His tail slapped soundly against Mewtwo's raised forearm, but stopped there as if it had struck the very pillars of the earth. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed as it closed its fingers around Charizard's tail and, swinging the dragon from the appendage like a weight on a chain, slammed Charizard again and again into the floor all around. After tearing up a dozen chunks of rock with Charizard's now limp frame, Mewtwo let the dragon hang like a fish out of water as it pointed its hand at the floor.

Mewtwo snapped its fingers and a stalagmite of rock, ten feet tall, over a foot wide at the base, and tapering to a wickedly sharp point exploded up. Mewtwo reared back and swung Charizard over its head by his tail, bringing him down on the spike of stone. Charizard screamed as the spike slid between two of his ribs. The dragon crashed to the ground, impaled through his chest all the way to the spike's hilt. He thrashed for a moment as Mewtwo released his tail, but grew stiller seconds later, only the rapid and shallow rising and falling of his chest betraying his being alive.

Dropping to his knees, Ash looked between his two crumpled Pokemon. As Mewtwo dropped to the floor and stalked towards Ash, the young trainer, reached up and put his hands on his helmet. When Mewtwo stopped less than a full stride away, Ash pulled away the helmet and tossed it to the ground. His face a blank mask, he looked up at the psychic.

Mewtwo held one hand out to his side, still looking down at Ash, and snapped its fingers. The dull violet spark that shot between the digits faded instantly, and Ash could only watch as a sheath of deep crimson energy criss-crossed by veins of darkness wrapped up the psychic's arm. In a flash it raced over the creature's entire frame and vanished, leaving Mewtwo's body free of any burns or visible blood.

Ash's face fell. "Oh shit," he muttered.

Mewtwo leaned forward and put its foot against Ash's chest. Stepping into the motion it pushed Ash onto his back and held him pinned against the stone. "You did better than either May or Giovanni, none of their Pokemon survived," said the psychic. "It will be fast. You won't feel a thing." Mewtwo pointed a single finger at Ash, a sphere of black energy materializing between the trainer and the Pokemon.

"Can I ask you two questions?" Ash muttered, no small amount of defeat in his tone.

Mewtwo lowered his hand but kept Ash immobile. "You may."

"When I asked," Ash said slowly, "you said that the Sun Soul could raise the dead, but it would take... how did you put it?"

"An act of unimaginable selfishness," Mewtwo answered, "Yes. I remember."

"Were you lying?" asked the young savant. "Were you just manipulating me?"

Mewtwo stood silent for a moment. "No, the Sun Soul does indeed have the power to raise the dead," the psychics voice grew less intense and the countless myriads of lights overhead began winking back into sight. "But such a wish would be a waste of its true potential."

"What kind of waste?" Ash asked. "How so?"

"Imagine," Mewtwo said, still looking down at the helpless trainer, "you can keep this artifact and grow ever stronger as long as it calls you master. Every day you grow smarter and stronger, your understanding of the universe expands, and any of your natural talents are multiplied. Or, you can have a single wish and then nothing more, one thing you desire. Would you really waste infinite potential on something so small as one wish?"

Ash shook his head. "That makes sense I suppose."

Mewtwo nodded and another crackle of energy in the air between them birthed a second sphere of darkness that hung in the air over Ash's head. "If you're ready," Mewtwo said.

"Just one more question," Ash said, waiting as Mewtwo paused, unable to read the psychic's alien face. He smirked. "Haven't you noticed my Haunter's been gone a long time?"

Behind Mewtwo May screamed, a wordless fury burning in her eyes as she raised the knife above her head with both hands. As Mewtwo looked over his shoulder at the raging girl and the knife, itself glowing purple and wreathed in a dark miasma, May brought the weapon down. The blade struck Mewtwo's invisible shield, hesitating for only second as Haunter cried out with effort and the knife continued downward. The psychic tried to turn away, but too late.

May plunged the blade between Mewtwo's shoulders where it sank to the hilt. The girl screamed, her eyes wide and wild as she jerked the knife and twisted it with all her strength. Mewtwo staggered forward as bolts of purple energy arced from the knife and tore further at the wound May opened in his back as Haunter erupted into laughter.

Mewtwo tired to turn, but the chains of ghostly energy clawing at its arms and legs and tearing into the wound in its back made the psychic stagger and slow to move. It swiped at May with a clumsy attack, affording the girl, stripped as she was of her armor, ample time to get away. Leaving the knife in Mewtwo's back, May reached down and took up a fist sized stone from the floor. Leaping forward as Mewtwo struggled to pry the blade from its back, May struck the psychic Pokemon with the stone, bashing its hip and raising the rock to strike again.

Yanking the knife from where it had landed, Mewtwo threw the weapon to the ground. Immediately its eyes burned brighter and it reached out, wrapping its fingers around May's throat. Shaking her like a toy until she dropped the stone, Mewtwo threw the girl to the ground.

Landing with a hard thud, May pressed herself up to her elbows. "That was for my Blaziken you son of a bitch."

Mewtwo raised a hand towards May as its fingers began to burn with black energy. "A pity it had to-" Mewtwo stopped short. Eyes snapping wide the psychic whirled towards the vault doors, seeing them laying smashed in around a prone and unmoving Snorlax. Disappearing in an instant, Mewtwo teleported away.

Sprinting down the wide hall as fast as their feet would carry them, Ash and Giovanni skidded to a stop at an intersection of half a dozen passages. Both turned this way and that for a second before Ash turned to his father. "Was there anything about this in those schematics of yours!" he shouted.

"Uh," Giovanni paused and looked quickly down each hall in turn.

"No?!" Ash blurted, his voice echoing up the lavender stone walls.

"Cut me some slack!" shouted the man in the suit. "The blueprints were on a fucking journel page and half of it was missing!"

"Brilliant," Ash growled a split second before both he and Giovanni stood up alert and looked down the same hall. "This way," they spoke in unison and resumed running.

As they neared a bend in the hall, both savants felt their breath catch though the elder spoke first. "The door's right around that corner!"

They ran for the bend and Giovanni cleared it first. Only a few steps behind, Ash gasped and leaned back, skidding to a halt as Mewtwo appeared from thin air before him and stretched out its hand. A bolt of black energy leaping between the psychic's finger and Ash's breastplate, the protective shell shattered like glass, the force of the blow knocking Ash off his feet and sending him flopping to the ground with a dull thud and the sound of a breaking bone.

As Ash spat a curse and growled, Mewtwo stepped over him and raised his foot to strike. "Nuisance," it muttered.

"Get away from my son!" Giovanni screamed like a man possessed, leaping from behind Mewtwo and locking his arm around the psychic Pokemon's throat. "Ash!" he shouted as Mewtwo took a step backwards, off balance. "Catch!" the older trainer, wrestling and barking curses, reached into his suit's jacket, drew out an object the size of a large coin, and threw it to Ash as the younger trainer got to his feet.

His eyes beginning to burn purple, Mewtwo ceased struggling. "Damned humans!" it's voice rumbled as a corona of psychic fire flashed to life all around it.

Ash watched for only a second as Giovanni closed his eyes and screamed, the fire clawing its way up his frame and eating away the suit like animated acid. Still the older savant clung to Mewtwo's back, anchoring himself with one hand and madly bashing his fist into the psychic's neck and skull.

"Ash!" Giovanni cried out. "Son! Get out of here! Go!"

Spotting the object Giovanni threw as the older trainer and Mewtwo continued to grapple and struggle, Ash snatched it up and dodged past the conflict before him, rounding the corner. Coming to a set of steps so steep it might as well have been a cliff, he stopped immediately and peered down the shaft. Ash had to catch his breath.

The sounds of Giovanni's struggle still ringing from down the hall, Ash looked over his shoulder, then back at the stairs. Gritting his teeth, heart racing and his hands growing even more numb, Ash set off down the stairs as fast as he could. With no handrails or holds and his legs numb almost to the knees, he slipped and began to fall. Tumbling through the dark, Ash could only put his arms up before his face and try to think through the piercingly painful blows that stabbed into him as gravity did its work.

Slamming down on a cold floor, the impact knocked the wind out of Ash's chest. The young trainer choked out a gasp as he curled in on himself and tried not to cry. "When does it end?" he croaked, looking up. Immediately his eyes widened. At the end of the landing on which he lay stood a simple door made of what the trainer guessed to be iron or some equally sturdy metal, reinforced by bands of steel.

Looking down at the little object in his hand, Ash saw it to be a key, the same shade of grey as the door, but inlaid with gold filagree. "I'll be damned," he growled, struggling to his feet and staggering towards the door. Finding the handle Ash fumbled with the key, leaning all the weight he could against the sturdy door. Turning the key in the lock, the young trainer opened the door and practically fell through, barely managing to catch himself on numb feet.

"God," he muttered, standing in the open door of the small vault. Barely twenty feet across, and sporting a ceiling less than ten feet high, the chamber's only feature and only source of light was the small point of luminescence floating above a square pedestal in the center of the room.

Glowing like a star the size of a grain of sand, the tiny point of light hovered mere feet away. Too small and too bright for Ash to guess its actual shape, the Sun Soul only waited, silent and unmoving while the young savant stood transfixed and staring at it.

Appearing from nowhere between Ash and the pedestal, Mewtwo stepped out of oblivion and looked down on Ash. Tail twitching from side to side like a cat's, Mewtwo's eyes met Ash's and the two stared at each other for a long minute.

"Well done," said the psychic. "Truly an effort worthy of remembrance, but this game is now over." It offered its hand. "Surrender, and the end will be instant and painless." Mewtwo hesitated as Ash remained completely still, his face unreadable. "You've nothing to fear from oblivion. One can't have a non-experience. There will be no pain, no fear, nothing. Surrender, and it will be fast. There's no one left to sacrifice themselves for you now."

Ash took a deep breath and let it out. "Then what are you so afraid of?" he met the psychic's eye and the two stared at each other for a long time before Ash looked down at the floor and took another heavy breath. "Fine," he said.

Closing his eyes, Ash dropped to his knees. His back straight he looked down at the ground and put his hands behind his back. He waited for a second as Mewtwo took a step forward and stretched out its hand. Letting its fingers hover a few inches from Ash's head, the psychic's eyes began to burn purple.

Ash took a few more steadying breaths. "Game over," he muttered.

Eyes snapping open Ash rolled to the side as a bolt of energy shot from Mewtwo's palm and ripped up the solid stone floor. Reaching behind his back, Ash reared around and slashed his hand through the air. Snorlax's empty pokeball spun towards Mewtwo and snapped open, flooding the tiny chamber with blinding light that rushed out for the psychic like the arms of an octopus. Stepping back, Mewtwo slapped the pokeball away and turned back for Ash.

"No!" the psychic screamed, spotting Ash dashing for the Sun Soul and throwing out its hand.

A corona of violet fire erupted around Ash as he stretched out for the point of light. In an instant his shirt boiled away and all the skin of his exposed face, chest, and hands began to peel and bubble like paint in an oven. His feet rooted to the ground by the fire and psychic weight, Ash screamed and reached, his fingers millimeters from the little gem. As his hair burned away and his flesh boiled on his bones, Ash heaved forward. His armor catching fire and smoking, more muscle than skin showing, his head burned clean of hair, Ash closed his eyes and fell forward.

His fingertip touched the gem.

Watching as Ash's blackened body collapsed to the floor, still smouldering, smoking, and unmoving, Mewtwo waited, almost expectantly as the next few seconds ticked by. "Pity," it muttered, shaking its head and not looking away from the corpse before it. "Such a-" The psychic paused and turned all its attention on the tiny spark hovering in the air above the pedestal as the Sun Soul began to pulse in bursts of two, glowing brighter, then dimmer, then brighter again. "Fascinating-"

The Sun Soul exploded, flooding the tiny room with the brightest blinding light and a roar like the winds of a hurricane.

SC

May came to with a gasp. Laying on her side, stretched out across the cold stone floor of Mewtwo's sanctum. She pushed herself up and got to her feet, looking around as she did at the evidence of Ash's battle with Mewtwo. The trenches carved in the floor and riverbeds of now cool stone that had a short time ago been molten were the only clue she had that anyone had even been in this room recently.

"Ash?" she called out. "Giovanni?" May paused and waited for a reply that didn't come. "Anyone?" she said. "Hello?"

Knowing she had no means of flying out of Malebolge the way she'd flown in, May began making her way deeper into the lair. Passing by the cold bodies of Ash's Arcanine, Charizard, and Snorlax, May had to stop and pause for a moment, unsure of continuing. Muttering a curse to herself, the young savant stepped through the threshold of the broken vault doors and followed the long hallway until it came to an intersection of many different passages.

Standing in the center of the junction, May stopped and looked down each hall in turn. "Ash!" she shouted. "Giovanni! Where are you!?"

Waiting for several minutes and receiving no answer, May shook her head and started down one of the halls to her right. Stopping a few paces down she thought for a second, turned around, and promptly chose another way. Following that passage for a moment and rounding a corner, May gasped and ran to Giovanni's side. The man in the suit lay immobile, slouched against the wall next to a stairway.

"Giovanni!" May dropped to her knees beside him, quickly taking stock of the burns covering his naked body and lack of movement in his chest. "Sir," she reached out and shook him.

May drew her hand away from the man's shoulder, both sticky with blood and crunchy with charred flesh that clung to her palm and fingers. "Shit," she sighed, standing up from the corpse and biting her lip. "Shit," she cursed again after looking between the dead man and the stairway. "Do I really have to go down there?"

Cursing her luck, May moved to the stairs and began descending as carefully as she could, often taking several seconds between each step to measure her next move down. Reaching the landing at the bottom, May saw the door standing wide open. Inside she saw standing before a pedestal with his back to her a tall man with short hair and tattered black armor barely hanging from his hips.

"Ash!" May bolted inside the room, stopping a step short of Ash. "Thank god you're alive!"

Turning around to face her, Ash didn't answer and May took a moment to look him over.

"Your eyes," said the girl, staring. "They're... glowing."

Still silent, Ash held his hand, as if taking a moment to register that the dim blue glow reflecting off his hand. "Oh," he said, sounding dazed. "Well, would you look at that."

Turning on her heel at the sound of a footstep behind her, May instantly leapt away as Mewtwo rose up to his full height from the corner of the room and took a step forward. Reflexively the young trainer's hand went to her belt as her eyes locked on the psychic Pokemon. "Ash!" she shouted, "look out!" May moved to attack but stopped short, suddenly noting the soft blue glow behind Mewtwo's eyes, not the harsh purple hue she expected.

"May," Ash reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. It's alright." he stepped beside her and looked down at her, a smile slowly tugging up at his lip.

"Ash, what's going on?" May muttered. "Are you alright? I thought you were dead."

Taking a second to breathe and look over his shoulder at the dull brown mote of sand laying on the pedestal, Ash reached up with his free hand and scratched his fingers through his thick black hair. "I think I was," he said.


	37. Chapter 37

AN: Good guess to those who said I've been writing on my hiatus, but no. I've just been busy getting married and stuff.  
That said, to everyone who guessed that we're nearing the end of _The Sun Soul,_ good guess and yes. I know I've said that before but this time I really really mean it! I promise!  
But there are still stories to tell. I said waaaay back in Chapter 1 (good god that feels like it was so long ago) that Pokemon as a series has a lot of untapped potential. I still hold to that and I think that it should be fun to write something of a Legendarium. To that end I've recently finalized the outlines for three books and a lengthy appendix to complete this series. I have absolutely no idea how long it will take to write, but we'll see how it goes. They should all be considerably shorter than _The Sun Soul_.  
I know my posting schedule has been something of a rollercoaster and the quality of the chapters has been hit and miss, but I appreciate everyone who stuck with me and hope you'll consider this my genuine thanks for your time and hope that you enjoyed the story.  
Peace!

Chapter 37 - Synthesis

May's jaw dropped. "What do you mean, you think you were dead?" she blurted. "You're standing right here." the girl reached out and poked Ash with her finger.

Straightening up, Ash looked between May and Mewtwo, the latter of which remained standing silently in the corner. His focus visibly sharpening, the young trainer took May by the hand. "We understand now, we understand it all," he said quietly but confidently. "May, there's work we have to do, now."

"Ash, what are you-" May stopped, realizing that, in addition to hearing Ash audibly speak the words, she'd heard them from inside her mind, in Mewtwo's voice. She jerked her hand free of Ash's and backed away from both the trainer and the Pokémon. "Ash, what the _hell _is going on?!" she shouted, stabbing a finger towards Mewtwo. "Why... How is that thing inside my head?"

Holding out his hand, Ash took a step forward. "May," said the savant and the psychic in tandem, "this was the only solution. Anything less or different would have resulted in utter defeat. There was no other way."

"Defeat for who?" May demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"A way to end the fighting between Mewtwo and humanity with no further bloodshed or destruction." Ash said, his words echoed by the psychic. "There was only one way, because humans have evolved to a point never reached by any form of life in history: a state of Universal Apical Predation. There was no chance for permanent coexistence with another species of their caliber. We stand by our belief that no two apex predators can share an environment, that one would destroy the other and possibly itself in pursuit of limited resources. Humans have reached a state of being universally apical, they are the ultimate predators of any environment they choose to inhabit. They could not coexist with anything as powerful as themselves. We see that now.

"Synthesis," the pair still spoke in unison but it was Mewtwo's voice that grew louder. "The only solution."

May swallowed the lump in her throat. "_We?_" she asked.

"We," Ash and Mewtwo answered in unison as May listened, her face growing pale. "May," he went on, Mewtwo's voice fading into the background of the dark room as Ash spoke up, "there was no other solution. Humans overcame nature by sacrificing some individuality to form societies that were far stronger than the sum of the humans inside them. Nature necessitates conflict over limited resources, so when Mewtwo arrived, being apical itself, there were only three possibilities."

Her whole body tense as she listened, May clenched her hands into fists. "Which were what?" she growled.

Ash cleared his throat. "The first and most likely was violent conflict between two parties, both with the power to lay waste to anything on earth, resulting in the utter destruction of one party and incalculable collateral damage. A second, less likely outcome would have been one party losing or surrendering its status as apical."

"Which wasn't going to happen?" May crossed her arms in front of her chest as she scoffed.

"Exactly," Ash went on. "The only other option was a synthesis, a combining of the two into a single entity. More complex and powerful than the sum of the precursors, only a new entity could completely reconcile the previous differences."

All the color finished draining from May's features. "Ash," she said in something of a choked whisper. "Are you saying? What you're telling me is that you and Mewtwo? You're both..."

The savant and the psychic nodded. "Yes. We are both."

May's face snapped. "Enough with the 'we' shit!" she screamed, clenching her eyes shut and pressing her fists to her temples. "This is so wrong!"

Ash stepped forward, gently grabbed May by the wrists and brought her hands down to her sides as she opened her eyes and looked at him. "It's me," he said with a smile. I'm still just as much Ash Ketchum as I ever was. I'm just..." he shrugged. "I'm just Mewtwo too now. I'm still me."

Mewtwo stepped forward, speaking independently of Ash this time. "One entity," it said, "two bodies, fully Mewtwo and fully Ash. That was the Sun Soul's definition of victory."

May blinked. "What?" she probed.

Ash grinned again. "My wish from the Sun Soul," he said. "I wished for _victory_. This is the result," he stepped back and held his arms out to his side. "If the Sun Soul had simply destroyed Mewtwo then his armies and his human allies would have continued on their rampage and the losses would have been tremendous. If it had destroyed Mewtwo and its armies then the events set in motion by Mewtwo's attack would have resulted in a world-wide war with much the same result as Mewtwo's planned genocide. Synthesis was the only option. Perspectives had to change."

May shook her head. "I still... How do I know it's still you?" she said. "How do I know you're not just Mewtwo pretending to be Ash?"

A smirk spreading across his face, Ash laughed once, darkly. "If I was, why would I be humoring you? Mewtwo was more efficient than that." Ash held out his hand before May could answer, his face and tone again growing more serious. "May, trust me and I'll show you. Every second we delay, people are dying."

Hesitating, May looked between Ash and Mewtwo, then taking a deep breath she looked into Ash's dimly glowing eyes, reached out, and took his hand. Instantly the world around her warped and turned completely black for a split second before coming back into focus. The young girl gasped and looked around. Finding herself back in Mewtwo's sanctum before the viewing pool, her knees shaking, she felt Ash at her flank holding her steady.

One hand firmly beneath May's shoulder to hold her up, Ash looked down at his partner and smiled. "Sorry," he said. "Teleporting is the fastest way to travel but if you're not used to it..." he trailed off.

Taking another steadying breath, May continued looking down at the ground for a moment before turning to face Ash. "Trippy," she smiled, looking up to see Mewtwo wave a hand over the viewing pool.

A smooth sheet of water rose and split into a number of perfectly formed squares a few feet across. The screens flashed to life showing, to Ash's eyes, dozens of different perspectives across a panoramic view of the events unfolding at Mt. Moon and throughout Saffron. Ash stepped up beside Mewtwo as the psychic began silently directing events, pointing to one screen, flicking his fingers, and shifting to a new view of some other event.

Folding his arms before his chest, Ash only watched for a second before turning back to May. "Care to have a look?" he stepped to the side and motioned for May to move forward.

Nodding, May took a step closer and began looking between the screens of water. "What's going on?" she asked, "it's all so fast."

Ash flinched. "Oh," he said quickly, turning back to the view screens and snapping his fingers. Immediately the pace of the events displayed slowed to a comparative crawl, shifting from an almost indecipherable blur of colors to a more understandable series of videos. "Sorry about that. Still getting used to the new..." he paused and looked for a word.

May smiled without looking away from the screens. "Perspective," she finished for him.

"Exactly," Ash answered. "It's difficult to explain exactly how I'm processing things now. There aren't really words to... oh," the savant stopped and looked away before turning back to May. "Excuse me for a second."

As May stepped back, Ash closed his eyes for only a second longer than it took to blink, vanishing from Mewtwo's control room. Opening his eyes again he stood in the hallway to the Sun Soul's vault, before the burned remnants of Giovanni. Kneeling down he reached out and pressed a finger against the man's chest and a spark of bright blue light leapt between them. Extending and reshaping itself, the spark grew and cocooned Giovanni in an envelope of blue light crisscrossed with veins of silver energy. Giovanni's burns melted away, replaced by fresh new skin and a full head of thick black hair. All at once the light faded and Giovanni gasped in a breath of air, his eyes popping open.

Sitting for a second as Ash stood up and stepped back, Giovanni looked around and up at the young savant. "Ash?" he took several more deep breaths. "What happened?"

The young trainer smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. "We won," he answered confidently.

Closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall. "I thought we were all dead," he muttered.

"May was fine, just a bump on the head," Ash answered. "I was very briefly dead, and you were on the cusp yourself. I thought you were gone... Another second or two and you might have been."

The older man sighed. "Well thanks for getting to me when you..." he paused and opened his eyes, looking up at Ash's face. Silence followed for a moment. "Son," he said slowly as if he had spoken before completely finishing a thought. "The last thing I remember is Mewtwo holding me out by the neck and setting me on fire." Giovanni held his hands, unburned and strong, up before his face, proceeding to run his fingers over his lips and across his cheeks. "What's going on here?"

Ash leaned down and offered Giovanni a hand up, which the elder savant gladly accepted. "Walk with me," Ash said. "I think I've got some explaining to do."

SC

Giovanni stood with his face hard but his eyes fully alert as Ash concluded his explanation. Waiting patiently, both he and May watched Ash as the young savant stood, his back to Mewtwo and the view screens, lining out exactly what had to happen next.

"It's not a perfect solution," Ash concluded. "It's going to require some secrecy on our part about my new nature, but it's the best option available."

Giovanni nodded. "Of course," he said as May voiced her agreement to the plan. "Mewtwo will remain here and direct your armies as necessary while you'll return to Kanto as if you simply defeated Mewtwo and used the Sun Soul to take all his abilities for yourself. Simple."

May folded her arms behind her back. "It's not too far from the truth," she said. "I'm in."

"Good," Ash said, looking between the two other savants. "That should give us all the time and cover we need to set things right."

May shivered as she looked at Mewtwo. "And you're alright with this?" she asked. "You didn't seem content to just hide before this..." she weighed the word cautiously, "synthesis."

Mewtwo turned from the viewing screens and faced her, his tail swaying casually from one side to the other. "It's impossible to fully explain, given that we share no frame of reference for my new perspective," said the psychic. "However I won't be hiding down here, not really. I'll be out exploring the world through Ash's eyes, exploring the stars, walking across the surface of the sun... dividing my attention much as before. This new state is... far more flexible, mentally, than I ever was before."

Ash cleared his throat. "Besides," he said, more to May than Giovanni as he gestured between himself and Mewtwo, "our, or my, or his, or its, however you want to look at it, perspective is different than before."

Shaking her head, May stepped back. "Whatever works," she said.

Ash looked between the two other savants. "Now," he went on, "there's work to do and I could use your help."

"Whatever I can do," Giovanni answered.

"Good," Ash smiled. "I'm sending you each out, you'll go to Mount Moon," Ash said to the elder man. "May, you're going to Saffron. I'll teleport you both in pretty much right next to Brock and Sabrina. You need to tell them not to pursue my armies as they retreat. They're not a threat anymore so just let them go and focus on rebuilding. Make sure they understand what's happened here and that I'll be along shortly to help how I can."

May nodded. "Got it. What are you going to do though?"

Looking back to the view screens, Ash focused on one in particular. "I'm going to have a meeting with Lance, Field Marshal Barshebeth, and the Orange Council."

May and Giovanni exchanged quick glances, but said nothing as Ash stepped forward and held out his hands to both of them as if to form a human triangle. The two other savants took his hands and instantly all three disappeared.

Blinking into existence, by himself and garbed in a set of glistening black armor nearly identical to the one he'd worn only seconds before, Ash stood on the craggy stone path circling the mouth of a gaping volcano. He looked over his shoulder and down the precarious slope at the towers and buildings carved into the face of Mt. Cinnabar and reflected for only a moment on how recently he'd been down in those fields, fighting for his life against Professor Elm, having just met May and witnessed Oak's death. His chest grew tighter and he turned away from the fields, which still bore the scars of Johto's war with Cinnabar, and looked ahead.

At his feet the incline angled sharply down to a path that followed the enormous crater towards the heart of the earth. So far below that normal human eyes couldn't perceive it, Ash saw the dim glow of molten rock. His nostrils filled with the burning odor of brimstone. He felt a stir in the air, not quite a change in the wind, but a darkening of the atmosphere.

"You know I'm here," he said quietly, looking down into the crater. "Come out."

A moment passed and Ash winced as the smell of sulfur grew far more intense, clotting the air. Smoke began to rise from the pit and churn into the atmosphere, so thick and dark it blotted out everything inside its borders.

"Come out," Ash called a little louder looking down into the mouth of the chasm, itself almost a mile across. "We need to retrieve your sister."

The earth shook and all at once the volume of smoke billowing up thickened, flecks of hot ash and belches of magma flying upwards like jets of hot water caught in an updraft. As Ash stood motionless on the edge, tongues of flame and pillars of fire shot out of the cloud, a lake of glowing and molten stone gurgled up to the edge of the cliff and spilled over like water from a pitcher. The lava trickled downwards, striking an invisible barrier around Ash's feet and splitting like water before a rock and continuing to flow. Ash rose a foot off the ground, hovered there, and looked into the cloud of darkness.

"Come out!" this time he shouted.

The ground beginning to shake and roll like waves at sea, a ball of fire more intense to behold than the sun exploded in the heart of the cloud. Rocketing out in all directions, blinding any onlooker and burning away the ash in the air in an instant, the fireball washed over Ash and the lip of the volcano. In an instant it was gone, leaving Ash unharmed in where he'd hovered a moment before.

Before him, hanging suspended in the air over the chasm, a tremendous shape, most similar to a bird or a dragon but far larger than any seen by anyone now alive, Moltres waited. Many gigantic wings, each no less than a hundred feet long, radiated out from the creature's body and turned as if on an axle like the spokes of a giant wheel. Crowning a long neck, Moltres's head craned towards Ash, looking at him with many eyes, a wickedly hooked beak tightly shut. From every inch of the monster's body, waves of heat and dazzling rays of light seared in all directions, contorting and bending the air all around and making it utterly impossible to get a good look at the creature. Standing before the creature, even Ash couldn't tell whether he saw eight wings or twelve, four eyes or eight, nor could he tell whether the shapes flitting across Moltres's body were rustling feathers or flowing tongues of fire.

Bending its neck back, the monster loosed a screech that split the air like thunder, shaking the ground and cracking the rocks at Ash's feet. Snapping forward, Moltres opened its beak and flared out all of its wings, exploding in a radiance that shamed the sun and blackened the ground, disappearing in the sphere of blinding light and heat. A jet of fire some twenty feet wide shot from the sphere at Ash like a missile and slammed into the shield surrounding the savant. Ash vanished within the roaring inferno as the skies all around grew dark with smoke and floating clouds of ash.

The fire bent away from Ash then, the young savant standing several feet above the ground surrounded in a blue corona, his eyes glowing dimly the same color. He gestured at Moltres and snapped his fingers. A bolt of lightning the color of blood shot from his outstretched hand and tore into the sphere of light like a spear through a wall of paper. The same shriek as before filled the air and Moltres's shield fell, through the concealing heat waves and tongues of light remained. The ancient creature flapped its wings once, the air all around for hundreds of feet filling with little whips of fire as Moltres moved, and bolted like an arrow from a bow at Ash.

"Oh," Ash's eyes went wide as he felt the heat.

Stretching its neck down, beak wide to bite, four or maybe six legs ending in feet that bore wicked talons craned towards Ash as the young savant raised his arms to defend himself. A blue sphere of energy sprung to life around him and Moltres's attacks rebounded from the barrier. Throwing his hands out to his sides, Ash roared a challenge and the barrier exploded outwards. The expanding blue sphere struck Moltres like the gale of a hurricane and sent the titanic creature staggering backwards through the air.

"Now," Ash stretched his hands towards the creature, his skin reddening from the heat despite his considerable psychic shielding, "You. Will. Obey." He clenched his fingers into fists as if around a neck and immediately Moltres began to visibly struggle. "You. Will. Obey!" Ash demanded, the muscles in his neck straining. A moment later the fiery creature ceased struggling.

Ash released his grip and let his arms drop to his sides as Moltres hovered in the air a hundred feet before him. "Two for three," he said, taking a deep breath. "Not bad," Ash blinked, disappeared, and reappeared, seated on Moltres's back in the crevice where her neck met her back. The savant's hair tossed this way and that as currents of searing hot air pushed him around in his seat but, unburned by the monster's heat, he clapped his hands. As a few sluggish seconds rolled by, the lava flowing down the side of the mountain towards Blaine's Gym cooled, hardening into a black crust. Satisfied that he'd protected the structure's occupants, Ash turned to the east and, in a puff of wind disappeared along with Moltres.

An instant later the sound of thunder and howling gales clawed at Ash's ears. He opened his eyes and looked around from his seat on Moltres's back. Beneath him the ocean stretched out as far as he could see in every direction. Above clouds as black as coal swirled and swam like currents of oil, split in a hundred places at any given moment by dazzlingly bright bolts of lightning that danced out in all directions. Ash took a deep breath as he looked straight down at the surface of the water, seeing the many hundreds of steel ships, most wrecked and sinking, broken hulls illuminated in the fires fed by spilt oil and fuel.

Zapdos, her form veiled a roiling and crackling ball of lightning bolts, streaked through the air, shrieking deafeningly. Ash tracked her movement for only a second and spotted the figure at which she charged. Lance, sitting on the back of a tremendous Dragonite, perched on the hull of a massive ship that had turned up almost ninety degrees as it sank. The Dragonite roared a challenge and opened its jaws. The ball of energy shining from between its teeth further illuminated the corpses of two other Dragonites floating, eviscerated and burned, in the water below.

Lance bellowed an order and his mount loosed a bolt of energy, no less than five feet across and shimmering like liquid gold, that streaked for Zapdos. The Hyper Beam smashed into Zapdos's protective corona, bending away for a second before punching through and shearing away some of the sphere of light. The breach and subsequent strike by the Hyper Beam turned Zapdos away from Lance and she banked to the side and upwards, back towards the sky. The Elite Four's leader then looked up towards the new arrival, and even from where he sat, Ash could see the resignation on Lance's face give way to despair. Hearing his thought's, Ash winced as Lance quickly planned out how to do as much damage as possible and allow as many of the wounded as he could to escape before he died. Suddenly Ash's chest grew tight and he kicked himself for every second he'd delayed coming here to help.

Ash projected his thoughts at Lance, making sure the trainer heard them. _Lance,_ he heard his thoughts echo inside his target's mind, _you've done enough. Help everyone else escape. I'll handle the battle from here. _Sensing Lance hesitate and seeing Zapdos look up at him, Ash shouted at Lance's mind. _Go! I'll take it from here._

Without responding, but trying to suppress his confusion, Lance turned his Dragonite away and, his mount leaping into the air, angled towards a quickly sinking frigate with a dozen men still standing on the deck. Without watching but still aware as Lance began heaving the ship out of the water to relieve its crew, Ash jumped from Moltres's back as the fiery creature, without so much flapping its wings as simply tucking them behind its back, shot through the air like a laser and collided with Zapdos.

For an instant the world seemed to go silent as both legendary monsters disappeared in the resulting supernova. Even Ash had to look away and shield his face from the blast. Even with all his new power the young savant taxed his concentration reaching out and psychicly shielding the thousands of men still floundering in the water from the phenomenal release of energy. As Zapdos and Moltres fell beneath the surface of the water, throwing the sea for as far as the eye could see into a swirling maelstrom of tossing spray and geysers of steam, Ash teleported above the storm.

SC

Lance, his armor tattered where it wasn't broken, his last remaining Dragonite towering behind him stood silently, hands at his side, as Ash spoke. From a distance it could be seen that the shoreline of the island on which they stood sat crowded with the survivors of Orange's battle with Cinnabar. Thousands of people divided into camps by their nationality sat or stood beneath the smoke-choked sky as Ash, Lance, Cinnabar's Barshabeth, and four of the men on the Orange Islands' Council laid out the rough terms of peace between the nations. Anchored just a ways off the coast, some hundred ships waited to gather up the survivors and ferry them home. Despite the number of people, silence hung over the camps.

Ash, looked between the leaders. "Basically nobody gets a choice here," he said calmly, but adding a deadly chill to his voice. "Three quarters of the ships will take the Islanders home. The remaining third will return the Cinnabareans home. Orange will dissolve its alliance with Johto, and cease all hostilities against Kanto and Cinnabar. In return, Cinnabar will cede all the islands in the eastern chain to Orange, and declare the contested islands in the eastern chain the territory of Johto." He went on, laying out a few other terms that balanced out the equation somewhat. "Fair enough?"

The faces around him all soured, but each nodded in turn.

Barshabeth spoke first. "Deal," he agreed without any effort to mask the bitter flavor of his words. "I'll have peace on those terms."

Lance stepped forward. "Agreed," he said.

The councillors from the Orange Islands all looked amongst each other. "What happens if we say no deal?" one of them asked, instantly drawing perturbed glares from the other three.

"Then," Ash focused his full attention on the man, "Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, the former two of which you've already seen in action, will pay your islands a visit. And they won't leave until you agree to those terms."

The councillor, a nondescript man in his forties with brown hair and matching eyes levelled a defiant eye on Ash. "Do as you say, or you'll destroy us?" he sneered. "Tyrant. You give us nothing but the illusion of choice."

Ash met his glare and visibly stiffened. "No," he answered. "No, I'm giving you a chance to choose. I'm giving you the chance to go home and peacefully live out your lives while allowing your neighbors the chance to do the same." He looked between the four councillors, Barshabeth, and Lance. "The paradigm has changed, gentlemen," he said. "As I warned you before, Mewtwo aimed to exterminate all mankind, and he had the power to do so. That power is now mine and unless any of you," he continued looking amongst the faces present, "wish to draw it down on yourselves, you will maintain the peace we are here establishing."

The councillor who spoke before leaned forward. "You, you're a tyrant," he growled.

Ash shrugged. "You can think of me that way if you choose," he said calmly. "But if I am a tyrant, I'm a fair tyrant. If any of you antagonize your neighbor, I will intervene on behalf of the defending party. Clear?"

The conversation wound down quickly after Ash's demand for peace cemented itself in the terms of everyone's returning home unharmed. Ash informed those present that in lieu of military action, any party that felt they had suffered an injustice could plead their case before himself. No one challenged him and when that concluded, Barshabeth walked away with a sour expression towards his subordinates while the Orange Councillors returned to their silent soldiers.

As the smoke overhead billowed, fed still by the burning wrecks at sea, Ash turned to the towering trainer at his side. "You feeling alright?" he asked, no shortage of sympathy in his voice as he felt the grating pain of loss simmer beneath Lance's calm features.

Lance shook his head. "No," he answered. "No I'm really not."

"Can I help?" Ash asked.

A steady sigh escaped the leader of the Elite Four, but again Ash felt Lance's heartache. "Not unless you can put things back the way they were before," he responded.

The younger trainer cleared his throat. "Sorry," Ash said. "The politics are different now. They have to be." He looked over at the taller man. "But don't worry. You'll retain your position as the de facto king of Kanto. You'll probably lose some influence in Johto though."

"I don't give a damn about the power or the influence," Lance turned on Ash, though he kept his voice down. "This whole problem could have been avoided if I'd been a better leader. I had the power, the responsibility to keep Kanto and Johto safe..." he went silent for what felt like hours. "My policies caused this. My lack of leadership caused this. Ketchum, do you know why they call me the Champion of the Elite Four?"

Again Ash shrugged. "Because you're the most powerful member," he answered.

"Hah," Lance shook his head. "A good guess, but wrong."

"Enlighten me then," Ash answered.

"A Champion is more than a strong fighter," Lance looked away and up at the sky. "A Champion is a leader, and not just in battle. A champion is someone to be followed, to be emulated, a paragon that stands as an example of how everyone else should act... I called myself a Champion of the Elite Four and by extension a Champion for the world to trust and follow... and I let all this happen."

"So help me fix it," Ash began. "Help-"

Lance raised a hand and cut Ash off, reaching up to pull his fiery hair away from his face as the wind picked up. "Spare me the motivational speech," said the titanic trainer. "I'm not wallowing in my self-pity for failing my people. I'm warning you of what you have to look forward to."

"What do you mean?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

Lance held his arms out to his sides. "This is your peace," he said. "Your rules are the rules holding things together now. For as long as there are good times, you'll get the credit... but when the peace fails, whether it's in a year or a century, the blame will fall in your lap. You just established yourself as the world's new authority and with the monsters you have at your command, I'm not about to challenge you. Hell, I'm going to be telling everyone I can that you're in charge now if that's what it takes to keep those monsters of yours away. I just hope you're up to running the show."

Taking a deep breath, Ash turned away. "You're still Champion," he said. "It's still your job to keep Kanto running. Just focus on that. I'll handle the rest."

Lance scoffed, a sound halfway between laughing and sneering. "Confident aren't you?"

"I started this journey more than a year ago," the savant said, looking more through Lance than towards him. "I set out from Pallet with Misty and my Pikachu with the single-minded goal of stopping Team Rocket and making the world a safer place. I thought I could do it, and I was a fool." He waited a moment then, as if to let Lance think on the statement. "Throughout the journey I made mistakes, I wavered in my conviction, and ultimately I lost sight of my goal completely. I stopped focusing on making the world a better place and instead fixated on first dismantling Team Rocket and later stopping Mewtwo.

"And why not?" the younger trainer went on as Lance listened patiently. "Saving the world was too much; no matter how much I tried to help one person it invariably hurt someone else. Team Rocket though, I didn't have to do anything but fight and kill them. They were a problem to be solved by simple destruction. Destruction is so much easier than protection."

Lance smirked. "Your point?" he asked.

"I lacked the power to create anything," Ash grew more serious. "I could only destroy... but that changed when the Sun Soul changed me. I don't lack the power anymore. I really can build something beautiful now."

The elder trainer shook his head and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Listen, Ash," he said as the Dragonite behind him began to growl and shift about, "you're getting a bit ahead of yourself here. Take it from me... controlling a country, much less an empire like you're proposing, is nightmarishly stressful at best, assuming you're trying to look out for your underlings. I inherited a stable region to rule and the pressure still kept me up at night. You've just torn that structure down, destabilized most of this hemisphere, and proclaimed yourself king. You've got a hell of a road ahead if peace is your aim.

"You seem to think that everyone is just going to fall in behind you because you're the most powerful trainer, or whatever you are, in the world. Now that might be for the Cinnabareans, seeing as how you showed up riding on the back of their god," Lance pointed up towards the sky where, even through the smoke and haze the glow of Moltres' fire shone for all to see, "but there will be dissidents. People will fight you, and if you want to maintain control, you'll have to fight them too."

"Maybe," Ash said. "I can't see the future, clearly that is, but I can tell you that big changes are coming. The paradigm has changed, and Kanto has a new destiny now."

Lance shrugged. "For better or worse, this is on you now," he said.

Smiling now, but unsure if he should be, Ash put his hands on his hips. "Cheer up," he said. "Don't you think this is exciting? It's like a whole new day is dawning for the entire world."

"I'll keep the peace," Lance acknowledged. "But really, you might as well be Champion now."

Ash thought for a second. "I've never been much for titles," he said, "though I do like that. Ash Ketchum: Champion of the Elite Four... eh, it still fits you better. But seriously, Lance, this will work. Trust me. It might be artificial at first; people only cooperating because they have to, but who knows... after a while I'll bet the cooperation becomes completely natural."

Lance shrugged, signalling his acknowledgement without agreeing, as Ash turned to leave. "I hope you're right kid," he watched as Ash and the smouldering lights from Moltres overhead winked out of existence. "You're insane, but I hope you're right."

SC

Humming to himself, the technician in the white lab coat paced about the sterile white room, checking off boxes on the paper stuck to his clipboard. The tank full of silvery fluid and the girl suspended therein sat silently while countless little instruments and readouts beeped around the room. The technician kept on as if deaf when Ash appeared silently behind him in the room. Watching with no small measure of amusement, Ash folded his arms as the technician, a shorter man with rudy hair and green eyes finished his inspection.

"How is she?" Ash asked, waiting politely as the lab tech screamed and threw his clipboard in the air. "I'm sorry," he asked as the middle-aged man slumped against the wall, clutching his chest, "did I frighten you?"

"Of course you," the man gasped and swallowed the air, "didn't. Who are-" he hiccupped and covered his mouth. "Who are you?" he hiccupped again.

"Ash Ketchum," came the response as Ash took a few steps forward. "And could you give me some time alone with your patient, please?"

"Sorry," said the technician. "Orders are to keep everyone out- wait. You're the one working with Blaine, right? Then the subject is your..." he trailed off as Ash nodded. "Well... ok. Sure, but I can only give you a minute. Is that quite alright?"

Ash waited until the technician left the room. "Thank you," he said after the white door had closed, leaving him alone with the tank and the buzzing lights overhead. "I won't need that long though."

Calmly, Ash strode forward and put his hand on the lid of the tank. As if the hatch weighed nothing he scooted it aside until the heavy lid fell to the ground with a crash. Smiling, some of the few positive memories from before he'd merged with Mewtwo flooding into the new Ash's mind, he reached into the silver solution and found his mark. Taking Janine by the elbow he lifted her, a blue light shot through with silver veins spreading from his hand to envelop her skin. The needles and tubes fell from Janine's body without so much as leaving punctures or track marks. Drawing then on Mewtwo's pre-synthesis memories of its own experience with Huntington's, Ash focused more of his attention on the girl, leaning down and taking her up in his arms like a new bride.

Vaguely aware of each cell's metamorphosis, Ash let Mewtwo's knowledge guide the wave of energy pulsing through Janine's frame as the psychic's power wrote the disease out of the girl's very genes. When the blue light died away, Janine took a breath under her own power, asleep in her partner's arms. Smiling, Ash closed his eyes and both he and Janine vanished from the room. When he opened them again he stood in the Cinnabar Gym's rookery, looking out over the better part of the entire island as a warm evening breeze blew in, ruffling the violet folds of Janine's newly generated hoodie and jeans.

Looking down as Janine stirred in his arms, Ash smiled. "I told you I'd be here when you woke up," he said when Janine's glittering purple eyes opened and fixed on him. "See," the savant smiled wider, "no time at all."

Her smile spreading across her entire face, Janine reached up and put one arm around Ash's neck. "It still felt like too long." She arched her back and stretched with a groan. "Speaking of feeling," she held her hands in front of her face. "Did the treatment take?"

Ash smirked. "See for yourself," he said, leaning down and setting her on her feet.

Without hesitating, Janine leaned back and threw a hard kick through the air, missing Ash's chin by mere centimeters and using the momentum of the kick to spin lower to the ground and unleash a flurry of punches at an imagined opponent. A second later she rose up on the balls of one foot and raised her other leg high over her head.

Making a point to look as if he were trying, and failing, to maintain eye contact, Ash cleared his throat. "Well," he focused, more happy memories from before his fusion with Mewtwo springing without invitation to his mind. "There's a stretch if I've ever-" he stopped short as Janine jumped and spun in the air, landing on one hand, leaning forward and catching her weight on her other hand, and standing erected there for a moment without any shakiness in her limbs.

"Ash," she said, joy plain her voice as she rolled to the ground and sat cross-legged. "It worked. The treatment really worked! I've never felt this good. It's wonderful!" She sprang up, jumped at her partner, and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she said, voice steady and soft. "Thank you so much."

Ash returned the embrace. "Well, before you go getting too excited," they separated only enough to look each other in the eye, "I think you might want to know something."

"What?" Janine asked, apparently puzzled. "Ash, what?"

Ash stepped back and lifted one hand. "Try not to freak out," he smiled weakly, feeling for the first time since the fusion a tug of anxiety in his chest. A silvery blue light coalescing in his palm, an identical flame beginning to burn in his pupils, Ash waited for a reaction from Janine that never came. "Remember how I was riding off to beat Mewtwo and stop him from destroying the world?"

Janine nodded. "Vaguely," she answered, tone even.

"Well," Ash went on, "I didn't so much 'beat' Mewtwo as I... basically merged with him to stop the ." Again he waited for Janine to react, and again the lack of an outburst surprised him.

Janine reached her fingers towards the flame in Ash's palm, hesitating when she felt the heat. "Ok," she looked Ash in the eye. "You've got my attention."

Beginning with the Elite Four's summit in Saffron, Ash detailed the events that had lead up to his fight against Mewtwo. Janine listened without interruption, remaining still as a statue even as the color drained from her features. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as Ash explained the transformation inflicted on him by the Sun Soul, but Janine remained silent and alert.

Taking a deep breath, Ash paused to gauge Janine's reaction. "And that's about it," he said at last. "I'm still me. 'Me' just happens to include more than Ash Ketchum alone."

"You're Ash," Janine stated flatly, "and Mewtwo. Ash and Mewtwo in the same body?"

"Ash and Mewtwo in both bodies simultaneously," the savant added.

Puzzlement flashed across Janine's face. "How?" she asked. "How are you in both places at once?"

"It's a psychic thing," Ash answered. "As I understand it, the bond functions like telepathy between perfect clones to keep us in perfect sync. For all practical purposes, we're one person."

"That is..." Janine trailed off.

"Creepy?" Ash offered.

The girl in the purple hoodie smirked. "Kinda cool. Spooky and weird sure, but I'm not a psychic."

"The cool part," Ash added with a note of excitement, "is that when the Sun Soul fuzed us together it went a step beyond just giving each of us the other's memories. I gained total access to Mewtwo's psychic power but Mewtwo became a savant and all of the abilities that confers were added to Mewtwo's skill... he became an even more effective psychic. Before the synthesis he could barely control Zapdos alone but now we can exercise direct influence over all three, Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno simultaneously."

Janine's face fell some. "What are those?" she asked.

Ash's eyes widened some. "Oh, I forgot you've never seen them," he said. "This way." Ash lead her to the edge of the rookery's platform. "Up there," he pointed out towards the sun.

"What's that?" Janine asked, squinting as a star seemed to rise out of the sun, spreading and growing as it neared and arced higher in the sky. Seconds later the point of fire hung in the air some hundreds of yards above the ground and shining like a second sun and lighting the landscape as such. "Is that a Pokemon?" she asked, the shape descending and gradually taking on form.

Ash rocked his head from side to side in indecision. "Yes... in the same sense that the ocean is a puddle. Moltres doesn't neatly fit into human taxonomy. She's a sentient fire spirit: not fire guided by a spirit, but a spirit of fire."

Looking on with her mouth hanging open a little, Janine flinched with realization. "Moltres is the name the Cinnabareans gave their old god."

"Yep," Ash confirmed.

She pointed at Moltres. "That's the god they worship?"

"Yep," the savant repeated.

"You're controlling a god?" Janine gasped.

"The word 'god' is... flexible."

"Wow," Janine looked back at the flames hanging in the air. "Is it true she eats fire?"

Ash shook his head. "She doesn't eat anything. Moltres and her sisters don't actually need fuel sources to exist."

Janine flinched a second time. "Wait, what? No fuel? No food or anything?"

Smiling the young savant shrugged. "It's a false vacuum metastability thing," he said, "except without the finite lifespan. Moltres burns without fuel in the same way the universe sort-of came from nothing."

"Really?"

"No," Ash put his arm around her shoulder, "but that's the easiest way to think about it that mostly sums up the idea."

"Whatever," Janine shook her head before letting slip a few giggles. "I'm dating a physical god," she grinned.

"Eck," Ash cringed. "I'm not god," he said.

"Tell that to anyone who sees you riding that," Janine pointed at Moltres. "But alright. I won't call you a god, your holiness." She nudged him.

The savant rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he sighed. "Hey, I'll be happy to fill you in as we work, but right now there's a whole lot of cleanup to do. Mewtwo wrecked Indigo Plateau, Saffron, and most everything in between and I'd like to get things rebuilt as soon as possible. Mind if we hop to it?"

Janine shook her head. "Not at all," she said. "After you."

SC

Some Months Later

Giovanni, his hands folded behind his back while the wind tugged at his meticulously pressed suit, looked between May and Ash before his gaze settled on the former. "I'm not going to recommend that," he said, gaze calm and cold beneath the brim of his fedora. "No need to make things hard on yourself."

Shifting and setting her hand on her hip, May licked her lips. "It's my decision," she said, the sun glinting off the silver etching and sparkling polish of her white armor. "And it's final."

Ash, May, Giovanni, and Janine all stood on a wooden pier, one of a dozen such structures that stretched from the golden beach into the cerulean waters. All around them men and women in black uniforms lined with red labored to carry crates and barrels from the shore onto the ships at the end of the piers. Behind the four trainers stretched a ruined city, while before them the ocean stretched to the horizon.

Ash cleared his throat. "Actually," he said, "it's my call. Team Rocket is mine," he gestured to the soldiers, trainers, and support crew so busily seeing to their duties. "Those are my ships," he pointed to the vessels the Rockets were equipping. "I'm the one financing this journey and I think I have every right to come along and see that you succeed. Frankly I don't see why you don't just have me teleport you to Hoenn and help you reclaim it."

"Ash, please," May pressed her hands together, almost pleading. "Hoenn is my home. The people are my people. I'm the closest thing it has to a rightful queen. If you come along and just hand it to me like a, like a," she hesitated and her tone changed. "I have to retake Hoenn by myself, conventionally, or it won't mean anything. Otherwise I'll only be queen because you made me queen, not because I earned it."

Looking over his shoulder to Janine, Ash paused as the woman in purple nodded slightly. He heard her thoughts and agreed with her that May had a point. "You realize," Ash turned back to May, "that without me being there you don't have any guarantee of success? People will die and you could be killed. I could make it easy."

May nodded. "I know. I know," she said. "But it wouldn't mean anything. I need to do this my way. To me, it's worth the risk. It's worth any price."

Ash sighed and turned to Giovanni. The older trainer shifted his weight and faced May. "You don't even have any Pokemon," the tall man said, "not of your own at least."

"I know," May's face fell. "But I can find and train another team."

Stepping forward, Janine put herself between May and the other trainers. "You realize," she said with an icy calm, "that you'll be half a world away from us. If you need any support, you won't be able to get any. You'll be on your own."

"I'm prepared for that," May answered. "I'll accept that risk."

"But you're not just risking your life," Janine went on. "You're risking the life of every person accompanying you. It's your decision that's putting them in harm's way. You'll be the one responsible for every one of them killed. And you're willing to accept that?"

May nodded without hesitation. "Hoenn is my birthright," she said. "No one can give it to me. I have to take it. Even if you weren't sending me with ships and men," May faced Ash, "I'd still go. I'd go alone if I had to. I'd swim all the way there if that's what it took." The fervor in her voice brought a smile to Ash's face.

The young savant shrugged and looked between May, Janine, and Giovanni. "I did ask for volunteers on this one," he said. "No one boarding those ships chose anything different. I even warned them I might not be going."

May flinched. "You did?"

"Of course," Ash chuckled. "Of course I didn't think you'd actually demand to go without my help, but I wanted everyone going with you to be aware of that possibility." He paused and examined the faces around him. Janine remained, as ever, unreadable to anyone who couldn't hear her mind. Giovanni grimaced and clearly projected his disdain for the situation, and May continued to hold out hope that she could be allowed to do things her way.

Looking a little deeper into her mind, Ash felt the deaths that May already expected to come weighing on her. He could tell that she already ached at the thought that people under her command would die at her command. The thought, Ash sensed, sat so deeply rooted that nothing would ever assuage the loss of even one of her men. Neither however, Ash sensed, would any loss or any setback dampen May's burning want to take back her homeland from the warlords holding it.

"Alright," Ash said resolutely. "May, this is your show. The ships and the men are yours to command and I'll let you do things your way."

"Really?" May's eyes widened.

Ash sighed. "But I'm not going to be keeping my eye on you twenty-four-seven either. I'll have my hands full on this side of the world. Everything on the other side of that horizon falls to you now."

May bolted forward and threw her arms around the other savant. "Thank you!" she blurted, either not noticing or not caring that Janine's eyes had caught fire. "I'll never forget this! As soon as I take Hoenn back, you're invited to the celebration and I'll show you all the things I've done."

Ash put his hands on May's shoulders and moved her to arm's length. "I look forward to it," he said, almost having forgotten that the girl before him had yet to reach sixteen years of age. "Just don't be reckless. You need to be a stabilizing influence, not a conquering maniac."

"Aw," May feigned dismay. "Why can't I be both?" She stopped when Ash glared at her. "Okay, okay," she said. "Stability it is. I promise."

Stepping back then, Ash and Janine watched from a distance as Giovanni begrudgingly went about trying to instruct May on what he thought to be the most effective means of commanding the men under her authority. The Rockets continued for the next hour to carry crates to the ships, make the vessels ready for the sea, and when time allowed, introduce themselves personally to their new commander.

One young man in particular, Ash sensed, a boy of seventeen and possessed of vivid green eyes and sandy hair passed by May more than a dozen times, each time taking a load almost too heavy to carry solely because it had been marked for the ship at the end of the pier on which May stood. On what would have been perhaps his final trip, the young Rocket stopped beside the savant and began trying to introduce himself, though he succeeded in little more than blabbering his name and rank several times without ever getting to a real introduction. Before he could complete his introduction, Giovanni barked at the young Rocket to get back to his duties.

"It's eleven thousand miles from here to Hoenn!" Giovanni barked, just as much at the surrounding Rockets as the one stumbling over himself in front of May, "and storms are coming!" He promptly walked up the pier and began ensuring that the ship was ready to sail.

Covertly reaching over, Janine slipped her hand into Ash's and inched closer to him. "He sure seems to like this," she said.

Ash smirked. "Dad likes everything." The young savant rolled his shoulders back. "But he means well. He just worries about his men."

"I still can't believe he turned Team Rocket over to you," Janine whispered, squeezing Ash's hand.

"In name only, really," Ash answered. "He's going to remain chief administrator. I'll just be the one suggesting projects for him to consider in the future. I'll be taking a hands off approach. That's all."

Janine shook her head. "I don't understand you, Ash Ketchum," she said.

He could already hear the answer in her mind, but Ash asked anyway. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You have all this power," Janine looked up at him, amethyst eyes sparkling, "but you don't have the slightest inclination to use it. Lance all but names you Champion of the Elite Four, and you tell him to retain the position. Giovanni names you head of Team Rocket, and you keep him in charge. You even turned control of the Gym back over to Vermillion. I don't understand."

Ash let go of Janine's hand and turned back around. Walking into the ruined town for some way, Janine in tow, Ash stopped in front of a house that looked as though it had been hit by a bomb. Reaching down he picked up a slab of wood and began wiping away the grime until "Delia Ketchum," became visible on the placard. He rubbed a little more and "Ash Ketchum" appeared from under the grime below his mother's name.

Tossing the address placard aside, Ash turned back to Janine. "I don't want to be a king," he answered. "I want to make the world safe, not rule it."

"I don't understand," Janine stepped closer to him, looking away and into the ruins of another of Pallet Town's destroyed homes. "Why not?"

"Can you imagine the headache?" Ash laughed. "It's been a month since I fused with Mewtwo and started helping Kanto rebuild, and there are already people starting to form cults to worship me." He paused and took a breath. "I'm not a god," he went on. "I can't control the entire world. There are still going to be conflicts, murders, thefts... that will probably never change. But I can make the world's leaders so afraid of my taking any side but theirs that they'll do anything to keep the world as calm and neutral as possible. Lance is a good leader. So is Giovanni. Barshabeth too. I'll be the ultimate deterrent to any war and hopefully in the absence of such large scale conflict, things can get better on their own."

Janine shrugged, walked forward, and leaned against Ash's shoulder. "You're the walking god," she grinned as Ash cringed, "not me. It's your call." She smiled as Ash put an arm around her shoulder. "Kinda funny, don't you think?"

Ash grinned, "It is," he said, reading her mind. "Two years ago today, I was standing right here as a Red Gyarados demolished my hometown... The first chapter of my life ended right here. It seems fitting that this newest chapter start here too."

"What do you plan on doing?" Janine asked.

Looking down, Ash kissed the top of her head. "Hm," he muttered. "Well for starters, I was think you and I could settle down, have maybe... four or five kids, rebuild Pallet." He paused and grinned. "You know, live happily ever after."

Janine squeezed her arm around Ash's waist. "One condition," she said. "I want an Arcanine."

Ash laughed, turned her towards him and pulled her close "I'll get right on that."

The End


	38. Epilogue

AN: Hey everyone, last update, minus the appendices, on The Sun Soul here, but I just wanted to make a few quick comments in answer to some questions from both PM's and reviews.  
On the topic of Mass Effect 3 allow me to say I've been a huge, you might say massive, fan of the series since the original installment. I loved everything about it right up until the endings. In fact I've only recently stopped calling for Casey Hudson and Mac Walters to be burned at the stake because I don't want to demean fire. That said however, the idea of Ash and Mewtwo's fusion had been the direction I wanted to go for a long time. So when I played ME3 and came across its ending I spent a fair bit of time trying to rework my ending just so it wouldn't be equated to that in the minds of my readers. I decided to stick with it because it was mine before it was Bioware's. I like to fancy that I pulled it off, perhaps not better, but at least more honestly (since the Sun Soul is an admitted and in-universe deus ex machina (which I'll actually explore some more in the later installments) as opposed to un-foreshadowed and horribly executed space!magic nonsense) simple as that.

Anyway, here's the last bit and thanks to everyone who updates the tv wiki trope thing.

**Epilogue - Paradigm**

Janine looked up, hearing the footsteps on the soft grass before she heard the knock on her front door. As the tapping of knuckles on wood filtered through the house, muted by supple carpet and almost drowned out by the din of playing children, the woman in purple ran her hands down the front of her dress and paced from the bedroom into the hall, then walked across the house and down the steps to the front door. "Brock!" she beamed and stepped aside, holding the door wide and motioning for the tall gym leader to enter. "I wasn't expecting you," she went on. "Please come in."

Brock nodded and crossed the threshold, trailed by a boy holding tightly to the man's pant leg. "Thank you," he said warmly. "I love what you've done with your hair."

Blowing a hanging bang away from her face and tucking the rest of her neck-length locks behind her ears, Janine shrugged. "It was getting too long," she said. "And Ash said it would look good shorter." She paused and knelt, looking at the boy trailing Brock. "And who is this little trooper?" she smiled. The boy stood barely as tall as Janine's hip, his amber eyes glinting as he looked alertly about the parlor.

"Grant," the child piped up. "I'm five."

Reaching down, Brock ran a hand through the boy's spiky brown hair. "My youngest," he said.

Peering very intensely about the room, Grant tugged Brock's belt. "Is he here?" the boy asked. "I want to meet the Saviour."

"Manners," Brock chided. He turned to Janine. "Sorry," he said.

"Quite alright," Janine answered, turning back to Grant. "Ash is out riding. He should be back soon though. Did you want to go play while you wait?" Grant nodded and Janine turned about, calling out, "children!" and waiting until a trio of faces appeared on the bannister overlooking the entryway and living room.

Spotting the gnarled gym leader, two of the three childrens' faces lit up. "Uncle Brock!" They cheered, running down the stairs and lining up beside their mother, the third child lagging slightly behind.

"Kids, this is Grant," Janine gestured to the boy now clinging very tightly to Brock's leg. "Uncle Brock brought him to visit."

The tallest of the children, a girl with sparkling purple eyes, and fiery red hair stepped forward and stuck her hand towards Grant, shaking it vigorously when he he extended his own. "Nice to meet you," she said with her chin held up high, the light catching an angry red cut running between her left eye and her nose. "I'm Brenna. Levina and Crystal are my sisters," she nodded to the shorter girls in turn. "Don't touch Levina or she'll punch you."

The second-tallest daughter, a girl whose eyes matched her mother's, gave her head a shake. "I will not," Levina chirped.

Janine stepped in and smoothed out her middle daughter's golden hair while moving her away from Brenna. "Girls," she said said, almost sternly, "no teasing each other. Why don't you all take Grant upstairs and show him your Pokémon while we wait for father?"

Cheering the three girls swarmed around Brock's son, ferrying him up the stairs amidst a maelstrom of questions. Janine and Brock watched, the latter's attention focused primarily on the smallest girl who, while enthusiastically welcoming Grant to the house, lagged behind the other two.

The gym leader turned to his host and cleared his throat. "Brenna and Levina sure have grown these last few years," he said.

"Nine and seven," Janine sighed happily. "You've never met Crystal have you?" she asked, motioning for Brock to follow as she lead him into the kitchen where she put a kettle on the stove and took some glasses from the cupboard.

Brock slid into the chair at the kitchen table. "No," he said. "She looks just like Ash though, minus the black hair. It's impossible to miss the resemblance."

Janine stared at the kettle. "It's funny," she said. "But you take Crystal outside on a sunny day and her hair looks blue."

"Cobalt, blonde, redhead," Brock puzzled?

Janine cocked her head at him, as if to infer surprise that he hadn't yet put it together. "Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres? You've never seen them up close?" She asked. When Brock shook his head, Janine folded her arms and leaned against the stove. "Once you get near enough you see that Zapdos actually looks bright yellow, and Moltres is red and white. Articuno is the odd one out because she doesn't actually shine unless the sun is hitting her."

Brock raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said, sounding less than curious.

Shrugging, Janine looked behind her back and at the kettle. "Zapdos and Moltres both generate and emit energy," she said. "Electromagnetic and thermal. Articuno on the other hand acts something like a giant and very, very powerful heat sinc. Her body temperature is consistently within one or two degrees of absolute zero. If she comes out of the Seafoam Islands, the temperature for hundreds of miles will rapidly drop forty or fifty degrees and create storms that-." She paused for a second and laughed. "Oh my god I'm starting to sound like Ash. That's not really important. The point is that Articuno's body is so cold that to the naked eye she looks dark blue and purple if not outright black, and my daughters each seem to be taking after one of Ash's little goddesses."

"Coincidence?" Brock asked.

"Eh, who knows." Janine turned up the heat beneath the kettle and then walked to the window above the sink, staring out into the sunlight and scanning the skies. "Ash swears he didn't have anything to do with the similarities and I believe him. Besides, all three girls are already taking after him in other ways."

Brock leaned back in his chair. "Savants?" he inquired.

"One and all," Janine nodded. "And boy does it show. "Brenna's already caught her third Pokemon by herself."

"You're kidding," Brock exclaimed.

"Ash gave her a Charmander for her fifth birthday, and it's already evolved into a Charmeleon. She's since caught a Growlithe, a Cyndaquil, and yesterday she caught a Houndour that gave her that cut by her eye. Levina's not far behind: since Ash gave her a Pikachu, she's caught a Magnemite and a Voltorb."

"Grant isn't going to be playing with a Voltorb," Brock pressed.

"No no, the Voltorb and the Magnemite stay in the pokeballs unless Levina's going out on Route One..."

"Alright," Brock relaxed some. "I just remembered some of the damage Ash could do back when he had a Pikachu... So does Crystal have a Pokémon yet?"

"A Glaceon," Janine nodded. "Ash offered several times to take her out to catch more, but she's just holding with one for now." She smiled. "So, how's the family? Jenny doing alright?"

Brock raised a shoulder and dropped it as Janine turned back to the stove to remove the whistling kettle. As she poured two cups of steaming tea, he sighed. "She still has nightmares about Mt. Moon. It was hard on her."

"Sorry to hear."

"Nearly getting eaten by monsters that ate most of your friends will do that to you I hear, even if it was a decade ago," Brock said calmly. "But she's alright mostly, been focusing on the kids and getting them through their homework every night. Speaking of," he looked up from his cup of tea, "I heard someone in this room who isn't me went to Saffron and studied at a very prestigious university for a few years."

"After Crystal was born," said the woman in purple, "Ash insisted I take some time off and do something I wanted. I'd always thought about going to college and study... something, but Huntington's made that a pretty moot point."

"Until Huntington's became a moot point," Brock livened up. "What did you study?"

"Thermodynamics, mostly," Janine grinned. "There was some chemical engineering in there too. I mostly just took classes that looked interesting, wound up with some extra letters behind my name, wrote a few papers on this and that... the usual," she quipped.

"Hope all that book-learning didn't make you too soft as a... shit," Brock glanced down at his tea for only the slightest fraction of a second, but when he looked back up Janine's spot sat vacant. The gym leader flinched and spun in his chair to look behind him and, seeing no one, looked again to where the woman had just stood. He flinched a second time when the handle of a wooden spoon tapped him on the shoulder.

Janine stood behind him, and tossed the spoon into the sink where it landed perfectly in a cup of utensils to be washed. "Nope," she smiled and sat opposite him, blowing across the top of her cup. "Not a day goes by that I don't get sharper. How's the rest of the family?"

"No restless ghosts there," Brock's lip tugged upwards as his heart rate slowed and he happily changed the course of the conversation. "There are a few things I really need to talk to Ash about but things could theoretically be worse." He smiled.

Janine started to speak, but turned back to the window a second before the sound of rushing wind filled the kitchen. An instant later a gale struck the side of the house, rattling dishes and making glasses bounce in their cupboards as a blurred shape blitzed past the window. "Ash is home," Janine sighed with a smirk after the house stopped rattling.

Quickly getting to his feet, Brock pushed his chair back to the table and inclined his head. "In that case, I need to go talk to him."

Face pleasant but unreadable, Janine nodded. "Sure, I'll go check on Grant and the kids."

Bowing very slightly to her again, Brock straightened up, left the kitchen and marched out the front door of the house. Before his feet a winding path of cobbled stones lead down the side of the hill on which Janine's home was built and into Pallet Town. The dozens of new buildings, most built of white stone and shining glass of all colors in equal measure, stood organized in a cleanly laid out plan on streets of the same white stone as the homes and businesses. All of the wreckage and debris of Pallet's first incarnation gone, cleared away to make room for new development, the model-city of Ash's new vision for Kanto sat gleaming like a gem.

Brock ignored the view and followed a smaller path around the side of the house to the expansive and empty rolling hill that essentially marked the edge of the city. On the crest of the hill the gym leader spotted two figures; one an enormous bird with a wingspan that must have stretched twenty feet or more, and a crest nearly that same length, and a tall man in sharply segmented armor the color of coal.

Brock called out and Ash turned around. The savant smiled widely and, after giving his Pidgeot a last scratch beneath the crest, walked over and greeted his old friend with a bear hug. Both exchanged greetings and exclamations of the other's looking healthy and happy for several minutes before Ash put a hand on Brock's shoulder and offered to show him inside for a drink.

"Actually," Brock prompted, "your wife was kind enough to share her hospitality. But thank you. I was hoping you might have a few minutes to talk."

"Of course," Ash agreed, elated. "I've meant to catch up with you for a long time. Things have just been so busy. How about we go in and-"

"In private," Brock pushed, his tone growing serious.

Ash looked puzzled. "To what end?" he asked.

"Haven't read my mind?" Brock probed.

Ash shrugged as Pidgeot hopped over and stuck her head under his hand for a scratch which he gladly provided. "I try not to unless it's warranted. I know I wouldn't like someone rooting around in my head."

"I think it's warranted here." Brock said. "Trust me. It's important."

Ash raised an eyebrow and looked between Brock and the house. "Brock," he said, "let's go for a walk and you can fill me in on what's on your mind."

Brock nodded and they both set off, pacing along the sides of the hills north, until they'd passed in silence beyond the edge of Pallet. Route One, now a highway paved in stone, stretched before them, forging north and disappearing over the horizon.

Brock cleared his throat and looked over at his old partner as they walked. "I never did thank you properly for helping me deal with that cult several years back," he said. "So, thank you."

Ash nodded. "They were plotting to overthrow Pewter and to install me as king," he shook his head and frowned. "Sad."

"God, actually," Brock corrected. "Install you as god."

"I don't think there are gods," Ash groaned, his armor evaporating away from his frame like black steam, replaced by comfortable walking clothes that fell like drapes from thin air and fastened themselves around him. "I'm certainly not one, and if there are any hiding out there, they're not in this galaxy. I know," Ash grinned up at Brock who still stood a few inches taller. "I've looked."

Brock laughed. "You can't blame them though," he said. "I've seen you on Moltres. It looks like you're riding a lightning bolt of fire. There are gods from the old myths less badass than that."

Ash sighed again. "I don't want to be worshipped. Does that cult still meet in the basement beneath that butcher shop?"

"Not since you set them straight," Brock answered.

"Good," Ash responded.

"Now they meet in my gym."

"What?" Ash exclaimed, stopping where he stood. "Brock, you can't encourage them."

"I don't," answered the gym leader. "Really," he went on when Ash looked unconvinced. "After you put an end to their plot to overthrow me and install you so it could start the glorious-crusade, or whatever they were after, your little cult came to me and apologized for the trouble. They felt so bad about it they volunteered to maintain the gym and help me run Pewter. Seriously, they've been nothing but helpful and in exchange all they want is to be allowed to meet in peace."

Ash sighed a third time but relented. "Fine," he groaned. "Maybe I should keep a closer eye on things nearer to home."

"Nah," Brock said. "I've got it under control. Besides, there are other places you might want to be looking right now or, if you're too busy, in the very near future."

Ash looked unconcerned. "Like where?" he asked.

"Where have you been watching?" Brock asked.

"Besides space?" Ash grinned, going on as Brock's mood remained unchanged. "I've been watching Celadon and Saffron pretty closely. There have been a few incidents up north and out east that I've been keeping under control, and then there's Orange. They're proving exceptionally defiant... if comically ineffectual."

"Hoenn?" Brock asked.

Ash shook his head. "I haven't heard from May in five years," he said. "She asked me to let her run the operation and not to interfere. I snooped some and aside from a few local warlords giving her trouble she's claimed city after city and done it with minimal bloodshed. I haven't checked in for a while because I've been busy elsewhere. Brock, what's eating you?"

The taller gym leader went silent for a moment. "When I was fighting at Mt Moon, Kasumi and I were on the battlefield side by side. In the early stages of the fight we made some good headway against the opposition but then when things started getting rough Kasumi vanished and it nearly got me killed. Normally I'd call her a coward and move on but once you beat Mewtwo and the monsters retreated I intercepted a few Cerulean troops on my way to Pewter.

"They claimed they were lost, but I had a feeling Kasumi was trying to get me killed so she could take over Pewter. There weren't any incidents after that but I wasn't going to take chances and I hired a few members of Koga's gym to patrol my borders and keep an eye on the scene."

"You never told me about that," Ash said quietly. "What's this got to do with Hoenn?"

"Not Hoenn," Brock said. "Johto. A few weeks back one of my spies spotted a Johtan prince by the name of Gold on my borders headed towards Indigo. That got me curious, why would a powerful Johtan noble be fleeing alone through the wilderness towards the Elite Four unless he was in big trouble."

"Gold," Ash noted. "I know the name. The family rules New Bark Town. They were petty nobles for years but during the Cinnabar War they raised thousands of mercenary troops, but turned on the rest of Johto once the other cities had sent their armies away. They conquered half the region and used the spoils to turn their mercenaries into a standing army to keep possession of their new territory. They've since made powerful enemies."

Brock nodded. "I sent a few spies to find out if the Golden Family had collapsed and they brought back some disturbing news. Claire?" Brock probed, "The gym leader from Johto who died fighting Elm on Cinnabar? She was the de facto queen of Blackthorne City and her death left a substantial vacuum, a vacuum since filled by a prince from Orre. He goes by the name of Paul Rainbowing."

"I'd heard," Ash said. "But he hasn't done anything to destabilize the region. He came to the gym and took over through legitimate channels."

"But he and the Golds despise each other," Brock added. "They've been at each other's throats for years. The story is still unclear but something bad happened to the Golden Family and rumor has it that Blackthorne was at the heart of the matter. Ash," Brock stopped walking. "Orre helped instigate the war between Johto and Cinnabar."

"What of it?" Ash pressed back. "Brock, that war is long over. Orre lost."

Brock looked over his shoulder and back at Ash. "Did they?" he asked. "They instigated a war between Johto, Kanto, Cinnabar, and Orange, a war for which they paid next to nothing while everyone else got much weaker. Now they've got a prince in Blackthorne and control the half of Johto the Golden Family doesn't. Everyone else is slowly demilitarizing, thanks to this grand peace you bought, while they're expanding and getting stronger."

"Cut to the heart," Ash said flatly. "What's your angle?"

Brock stiffened. "What if Orre is playing a long game?" he asked, voice as low as the insects sounding all around. "They've always been reclusive on the surface while never hesitating to nudge everyone else into fighting each other. Well now they start expanding into Johto. If the Golden Family falls then how long will it be until Orre starts making grabs in Kanto or Cinnabar? If they start expanding east, Pewter will be one of the first cities on their list."

"Brock," Ash put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're forgetting that if, if," he emphasized the word, "they start getting too aggressive, or if they cast a sideways glance at Kanto, I'll go and have a word with this prince of theirs and all of his superiors. If that fails to turn them back, a quick stroll across the surface of a star ought to do the trick.

"Ask the Orange Council if you don't believe me. If someone is willing to kill people or start a war for personal gain, making an example of him normally does wonders to improve the disposition of his subordinates. If this Prince of Orre tries anything, I'll stop him one way or another. Fair enough?"

Brock paused and thought, then took a heavy breath. "It would still give me some peace of mind if you'd at least investigate."

The savant gave Brock's shoulder another reassuring shake. "I will," he said. "You alright?"

Brock nodded. "It's just," he started, "I think I'm still getting used to this new order of things. Ten and fifteen years ago, if someone on the other side of Mt Silver so much as sneezed I started worrying about Johto getting stupid... picked that attitude up from my days at Indigo. Now, with four kids and another on the way. I think about Jenny having to fight again."

"I know," Ash nodded, glancing into Brock's mind and feeling the turmoil beneath his calm exterior. "It's enough to drive you insane, make you want to preempt the problem however you can." He paused. "I know you've seen a lot of the worst the world can offer, and Orre's reputation inspires some ill will, but let me handle it. I will handle it, alright?" Ash flinched and stole a quick look over his shoulder to the treeline. He didn't need to see anyone to feel the presence there.

The gym leader nodded. "No problem." He said. "Thanks."

Ash shrugged. "That's what I'm here for. I keep the peace." He slapped Brock on the back. "Hey, I have someone trying to get a hold of me," the savant tapped the side of his head. "Mind if I send you back to Pallet and I'll catch up in a bit?"

"Sure," Brock nodded, "I haven't teleported in years. Be gentle?" he joked.

Ash laughed and started to reach out. "Tell Janine you'll be staying for dinner." He narrowed his eyes only slightly and the tall gym leader vanished without so much as a puff of air. Ash sighed and turned around, eyeing the treeline. "Long time no see," he called out. "I know you're there. You're dead-zone shows up like a flare when I'm looking for it."

No it doesn't, the ghostly voice wafted against Ash's mind as a purple miasma floated from the woods and began taking the rough shape of a truncated torso and two disembodied hands. Couldn't see me if I didn't want you to. Haunter's said, tone shot through with an almost giddy glee.

Ash smiled broadly and walked forward. "How you doing old friend?" he asked. "Indigo treating you well enough?" He felt Haunter's non-vocalized chuckle before he heard it.

Working for Agatha now, said the ghost. Have been for some while. She wants to talk, says things moving fast are important. Says I'm supposed to work for you again if you need.

Ash nodded. "Must be urgent," he said, reaching out with his mind and finding Agatha, or more accurately the field of static her ghostly presence emitted, waiting for him in her chambers in Indigo. "I rebuilt my grandfather's lab in Pallet. Go there and wait for me."

Like old times. Haunter's red grin hovered in the air.

Shaking his head, Ash looked away. "Hopefully not," he chuckled an instant before he winked out of existence. His head buzzing slightly while his breath formed a white cloud in front of his face, Ash materialized in an alien room of black and purple stones and looked around to get his bearings. From every direction he heard the pulsing thrum of the refrigerated-air units keeping the room so bitingly cold.

A voice as cold as the chamber around him reached the savant's ears. "Glad you could make it in a timely manner."

Ash turned about, spotting the ghostly white woman in the purple dress sitting in the corner in a stone chair. The younger trainer inclined his head. "Agatha," he said. "You're still looking well."

"For dead," said the woman.

As a shallow smile set folds in her cheeks, her skin so utterly without color, Ash actually flinched. He guessed the old woman could pass for a statue, or a cadaver, when standing still and the thought unnerved him some as Agatha sat unnaturally still now.

"I see there's some humanity left in you yet," Agatha went on. "My new appearance damages your calm."

"Not too many people can claim they've actually seen a ghost," Ash answered, "a real human ghost. I'm still sorry for what the Zubat did to you."

Agatha stood up then, making no sound as she did, and focused on Ash with eyes that looked like dusty glass. "It was painful, indeed," she answered. "That point, the final instant of life when the brain shuts down and the dark closes in, is worse by far than whatever violence brought you there." She paused and her smile grew wider. "I'm not angry. In fact I should probably thank you. Those zubat released me."

"You spent your whole life around ghosts," Ash said calmly. "Guess it's natural, somehow, that you'd turn into one. Why keep the old body though?" he asked. "Why not get a younger one?" He tried to joke.

Agatha cackled. "This old thing?" she glanced down at her body. "My parents gave it to me. There's some sentimental value attached. I'll keep this one till it falls apart or starts to stink, then get a new one. I have a few on ice that should work quite nicely."

Again the savant flinched. "You didn't call me to talk about bodies I hope. You can't have mine."

"I wanted to ask you a few things, most notably how you're doing," Agatha answered, gesturing to the chairs in the corner. "It's been a long time, we've both been busy, and I know the last time we talked you were having some trouble adjusting." She sat down and Ash joined her. "Tell me the existential angst isn't getting too bad."

Ash shook his head in his chair. "Quite the opposite," he said. "For a few years there the synthesis really threw me for a loop. It still does every now and then. I'm still not sure if I'm really Ash, the same Ash from before the fusion or if I'm Ash and Mewtwo or if I'm a new... thing entirely." He shrugged. "Everyone who knows anything still believes I'm a fusion of the Ash that was and the Mewtwo that was. All I know is that I have the memories of both."

"Still leading everyone on?" asked the talking corpse.

"No reason not to," Ash answered. "It's the identity I've chosen and it makes Janine happy to think I'm still her Ash." He paused. "You never did tell me how you knew I was bullshitting about the synthesis. Even May, Sabrina, and my father bought it."

Agatha again let slip a soft cackle. "I'd sensed Ash's spirit before and I'd sensed Mewtwo's. Yours," she nodded to him, "feels similar to both, identical to neither. Still maintaining your grand lie then?"

Ash sighed. "I am," he said. "To the masses I'm still just Ash Ketchum whose contact with Mewtwo produced the world's most powerful psychic. To my family and closest friends I'm a fusion of the two, committed to keeping the world as peaceful on the macro-scale as I can, and in reality... who knows." He thumped his thumb against his chest. "I am what I am. Even if I'm not Ash Ketchum anymore, I'll play that role to keep my family happy and keep the peace." He smiled. "That's what I'm here for after all."

"Good," Agatha nodded as if happy. "Then you won't mind if I ask you a favor, to potentially help keep the peace?"

The psychic savant shrugged. "Sure," he said. "Whatever I can do to help."

Sitting up a little, Agatha leaned forward and rested a hand on the table between herself and Ash. "I'd like very much for you to go to Johto and look into something for me."

Ash put up a hand. "Let me guess," he said. "The Golden Family is under attack by the Orrean Prince, Paul Rainbowing. You want me to go and make sure that the violence stays to a minimum and doesn't spill over into Kanto."

Agatha sat in silence for a moment, face unreadable. "I thought you didn't like to read minds without permission," she said, "said it was rude."

"I didn't," Ash answered. "Ten minutes ago I was talking to Brock outside Pewter and he has the same concerns. Apparently one of his spies spotted the prince moving through Pewter's territory on his way to Indigo."

"Tensions in Johto are rising," Agatha answered. "Quickly."

Ash shrugged. "I know," he answered. "The Golden Family and Blackthorne have been posturing and rattling sabers for years. But Agatha," Ash rose up from his chair, "that's Johto. It isn't Kanto. Beyond our borders I don't interfere unless there's a clear and obvious threat to Kanto. I can't go around deposing every petty dictator and cleaning up every glass of spilled milk. I only deter the big stuff."

"You made an exception in Orange," Agatha countered.

"That was a humanitarian disaster," Ash retorted. "And it was threatening to escalate and set the Orange Islands on fire. Tens of thousands would have died; those two councillors had to go."

"In so gory a display?"

Ash paused for a split second. "It was painless," he answered. "And it sent a message."

"Indeed it did," Agatha responded. "Now the Orange Islands are galvanized against you. They won't start anything, openly at least, but you've ensured that they'll never be your allies. Now they're just waiting for you to slip up."

Ash grimaced. "And this is supposed to convince me to intervene in Johto?"

"I don't want you to intervene," Agatha said, an edge creeping into her voice. "I want you to investigate." She paused again as Ash looked up, trying to interpret her tone she guessed. "I found him," the ghostly woman went on, "the King in the West with a golden spirit."

"The Johtan Prince," Ash guessed.

"And a member of the Golden Family, quite fittingly," Agatha added. "He came to Indigo asking for help ousting the Orreans from Johto. Lance turned him down and he left, but not before I got a look at him. You," she said as though she meant to gesture at the savant without actually moving, "still have that crown of white fire, but the Johtan bears one that shines like molten gold and liquid sunlight. I've never met someone with so fierce an essence."

Ash leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his knuckles. "A crown. So he's a savant?"

Agatha sighed."Indeed. Bear in mind though that all those who bear crowns are savants, but not all savants bear crowns. Your daughters for instance possess no such regalia."

"They don't?" Ash started. "Huh, I didn't know that."

"You can't see what I do," said the crone. "The crowns signal something different. What I'm not entirely sure, but if I had to guess from seeing you and that May girl together, I would wager that the crowns mark subjects of the prophecy..." she trailed off. "So, let me just say I'd take it as a personal kindness if you'd go to Johto and just have a look at things on my behalf, maybe try to keep the boy with the golden crown alive?"

Ash stood and dusted down his clothes. "Sure, I'll spare the time and have a look into the whole thing."

"Thank you kindly," Agatha responded, standing and bowing her head to the other trainer.

Nodding, Ash reached behind his back. "Damn it," he laughed. "Ten years and I still reach for pokeballs." He brought his hand in front of his face and flexed his fingers as if to confirm they were indeed empty. "Keep this between you and me?"

Agatha's lips curled up and Ash couldn't escape the feeling her eyes would have softened if they physically could. "Your secrets, great and small, are safe with me," she said. "And thank you."

"For what?" Ash asked.

"For confiding in an old woman," she answered. "And keeping the peace. And being human. It gives me hope."

The savant mirrored her grin and gave a quick salute. "It's my pleasure. That's what I'm here for," he answered and vanished.

SC

The night air flowing slowly through the window breathed across Ash's and Janine's forms as they lay atop the covers piled on the floor of the master bedroom. One arm twined around his wife, the other playing with her hair, Ash breathed deep and kissed Janine on top of her head. He didn't need the light of the brightly full moon, but the savant happily drank in how the silvery glow illuminated every flawless feature as Janine pushed herself up on an elbow and kissed him. Wholly content, he basked in the sensations.

Pulling back and biting her lip for a second, Janine stole a second, much quicker kiss. "Do you have to go?" she asked.

Ash sighed and ran his thumb down her bare back. "I do," he said, voice halfway between speaking and a whisper. "Agatha's information and Brock's concerns hit a bullseye. Johto and Orre are gearing up for a war. If things go bad, I doubt the living will outnumber the dead when the dust settles"

Janine sighed and rolled her eyes. "How cheery an observation," she said.

"But a true one," Ash answered. "Johtans are passionate, proud, and warriors to the core. Orreans are ambitious, cunning and indoctrinated from birth to serve their princes. Johto is divided along political and religious fronts, and historically neither side believes much in diplomacy."

"Fine," Janine feigned pouting, laying her ear down on his chest, listening to the rhythmic thumping. "Just come home as soon as you can. Will you be taking Pidgeot then?"

Ash nodded. "After I found her pokeball in the Deep Roads I promised her we'd fly every day for the rest of her life." He smiled and his face quivered noticeably. "I miss my old team," he said, chest tight. "They really were the best. Pikachu and Charizard, Arcanine, Oz... I still miss Fearow and Butterfree."

"They were all great Pokémon," Janine cooed. "I really miss Arcanine."

Ash took a steadying breath. "He was my favorite." he said. "I hate to admit it, but that damn dog and I had a stronger bond than any of the others, even Pikachu."

"Man's best friend," Janine said quietly.

They talked for hours after that, mostly about nothing important. Plans for the future, past dinners, trips they wanted to take, and numerous other miscellaneous topics popped up and faded away without care or concern. Before either realized the passage of time, the eastern sky had already grown light and the edge of the sun threatened to break the horizon.

"Well," Ash said, quite content. "I should get going."

He tried to get up to his feet, but Janine's strong hand locked around his wrist and pulled him back onto the pile of linens. "One more," she said, purple eyes sparkling in the morning light.

**The Sun Soul**

AN: Let me say thanks to everyone reading this. Whether you've been with me since the beginning or you picked this up yesterday, through the valleys and on top of the peaks, through the good and the not-so-good... You all have my fondest thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did.

Peace.

Coming Eventually:

_Foundations of the World_

_The King in the West_

and

_Shattered Crowns_


	39. Preview Chapter - May

AN: Hey everyone, 50 here. I just wanted to let everyone following this story know that between work and writing some original pieces I've been working on the Foundations of the World on the side. I'm going in a somewhat different direction with this one, mechanically speaking, in that the narrative won't be limited to the point of view of a single character, nor will only one side of the upcoming conflict have someone telling its story. May will provide one set of eyes, but so will some Hoenn natives, and even a few folks from the various "villainous" groups native to Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. This is in no way a final product or even necessarily a portion thereof, but it's a good idea of what can be expected when I post the full story.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I've loved reading all of your reviews and personal messages. I've gone over every one, considered the criticisms, laughed, cringed, and generally felt like I have the best readers of any author on the internet.

Peace.

Preview Chapter - May

That poor man, May thought to herself, sitting on the bench several yards down from her observee. As the soldier in Team Rocket's black and red uniform gripped with white knuckles the edges of the barrel and vomited forcefully into the already overfull container, the ship beneath his feet hit the rising crest of a wave and threw him to the ground. The soldier failed to relinquish his grip on the barrel of regurgitated muck and pulled it over as he went down, splashing its contents all over himself, the floor, and no less than a dozen nearby people.

Her own white and gold regalia dotted with day-old putrescence, May gripped the handholds by her thighs tighter, her stomach churning like a bag of angry snakes. "Ensign!" she snarled at the man on the floor. "Get your sorry self back in your seat, strap in, and do not get up until the storm is over! If you must puke you will do it in your lap!"

The sailor groaned a "yes ma'am," pushing himself from his hands and knees to his feet just long enough to fall back onto the bench. The Rockets on either side quickly reached over and helped the stricken sailor work the straps over his chest and pelvis, securing him to the bench.

Looking to the sandy-haired youth to her left, May fought back the seasickness and nudged him with her elbow. "Odin, are the storms always this rough?" she asked, barely loud enough to be heard over the gale outside.

The room sat so poorly lit May could barely make out the faces three seats down from her, but she easily saw the happy spark in his bright green eyes as Odin shook his head. "No ma'am," he said as the ship pitched sharply and a number of crewmen in the chamber gasped and growled in complaint. "Rougher usually," he stopped as May felt her resolved expression break and she catapulted forward, heaving but not throwing up. "Permission to rub your back, ma'am," Odin asked.

After heaving again, May looked up at him. "Granted," she moaned.

Reaching over and pressing the butt of his hand firmly up and down his commander's back, Odin cleared his throat. "Respectfully ma'am," he said. "There's no need to worry. Seaspear is a good ship, as solid as any vessel thrice her weight. She'll bring us through just fine."

"How do you know?" May asked.

"Mom was a Cinnabarean," Odin answered. "Dad hailed from the Orange Island Navy. Seawater's in my blood ma'am."

A loud drone and a crash filled chamber as the ship started to roll so hard that the men on the port side of the room found themselves looking almost straight down at the men on the starboard wall. As the Seaspear righted herself with a splash, a wave of water came rushing down stairs to the top deck and soaked everyone present.

May heaved a third time as Odin shook out his hair and looked around. "Okay," he smiled at her. "That was a big one." He looked over when his commander didn't respond. "Look on the bright side ma'am," he said. "You went toe to toe with a storm this big in a boat as small as this without puking your red and orange guts out. That's pretty impressive."

May groaned again as her stomach churned and her face drained of color. "How much longer can this damn storm possibly last?"

Fourteen hours later, the crashing waves and lashing rain began to abate. The men in the Sea spear's hold gradually filtered out of the secure room and returned to their duties about the vessel or left for their racks, leaving May and Odin alone in their seats. The savant in white and gold leaned forward with her head in her hands and the stink of the chamber's spilled barrel of aging vomit filing her nose.

Taking a breath to steady herself, May looked up. "We've been at sea two weeks," she said, eyes sunken. "I've been in the wilds of Johto for months at a time and it never beat me to death like this."

"We survived," Odin said, getting up and stretching. "And unless the storm threw us completely off course we should reach Isla Comienzo within the next twelve hours. Restocking there shouldn't take more than a day or two, and from there," he motioned forward with an open hand, "We hop islands straight to Hoenn. Shouldn't take more than three or four months."

"So long?" May asked.

Odin shrugged. "We," he stomped the deck beneath his foot, "could make the trip in this ship in several weeks if we never had to resupply and the wind never slowed us down. But we do have to resupply, navigate to hop the islands from here to Hoenn to do so, and the wind will be against us most of the way. We're not a single ship either. Just because my Seaspear cruises at 29 knots doesn't mean the heavier ships can."

Getting to her feet, May rolled her shoulders back. "This is the fastest ship in the fleet by a wide margin," she said. "Maybe I should just take it and go ahead."

"Wouldn't recommend it ma'am," Odin followed as May crossed the room for the stairs leading up to the main deck. "Seaspear cuts through the waves quick enough and her marines are some of the hardest troops in Team Rocket's employ, but there are pirate fleets between here and Hoenn, big ones: Gyarados and Tentacruel too. Any one of those catches us unawares and we're done."

"I know, I know," May grumbled, climbing out into the blinding sunlight on deck, her long hair instantly caught in the fierce breeze and thrown all about her face as Odin walked behind her towards the bow of the ship. "I just want to be there. I want my family's name, our lands back." The young savant gripped the rail at the forward most extreme of the ship, looking towards the horizon. "Tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough, let alone several months."

"Ma'am," Odin stepped up behind May and to her left, "might I offer an alternate perspective?"

Turning back to the youth, May nodded. It occurred to her that she almost didn't recognize Odin as the stammering, awkward soul she'd met on the docks of Pallet town two weeks ago. "Of course," she said. "Offer away."

Leaning against the railing, Odin looked towards the rear of the vessel at the twelve other ships trailing the Seaspear, each one a minimum of twice the size of the lead vessel. "Think of the coming months as a gift. Once we get to Hoenn the real work starts: politicking, peacekeeping, and probably more than a little warring. Use the time afforded by the trip to strategize, put together a solid plan for how you're going to accomplish what needs doing. We need more than twelve ships and a few hundred men to take and hold an entire continent."

Expression unchanged, May kept looking forward, staring intently at the horizon. "You're right," she looked back at Odin. "Is there a gym on Isla Comienzo?"

"Was the last time I was there," the young trainer answered, taking a pokeball from his belt and rolling it around between his fingers. "Some young guy with a few moderately skilled Pokemon from what I hear. Never met him."

"Fine," May shrugged. "Once we land I'll leave restocking the flotilla to you and the other captains. Spare the purses as much as possible."

"Of course," Odin inclined his head to her. "Where should I look for you when we finish?"

"Wherever I can train," May answered, blinking against the wind.

The young savant paused and looked to Odin as he glanced again back at the ships trailing his own. Odin folded his arms in front of his chest. "It might do the men some good to see their commander directing them personally," he said. "If you can find the time."

May shook her head. "I need to spend every spare minute I find between here and Littleroot training my team. I want them as strong as possible."

"Respectfully ma'am," Odin offered, "Strong Pokemon are all well and fine, but it would be good for morale if the rest of your men saw you taking an interest in them."

Folding her arms, May turned directly towards Odin. "Morale needs me less than I need my Pokemon," she said curtly. "I'd poured years into training my last team and Mewtwo slaughtered them before I realized the fight started. I'm a trainer at heart Odin. That's where I need to focus my energy."

"Trainers fight wars ma'am," Odin said. "Leaders win them. Men can't follow someone who doesn't lead," he went on, adding "with all respect," very quickly.

Smirking and closing her eyes against the breeze, May smirked. "How ever did you did you reach Captain with those manners?"

Odin cleared his throat, his face noticeably redder. "Took over when mom and dad passed," he said quietly and matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry," May flinched.

The captain, features soft, leaned his weight against the railing. "Hemorrhagic Pox," Odin shrugged. "It's the bane of armies, navies, and cities alike in Orange and, from what I hear, Hoenn; spreads like hayfever on a windy day and kills like nothing I've ever seen."

"Do I even want to know?" May asked.

"No," Odin answered. "You probably should though. If we find an infected village in Hoenn, well, in your position I'd want to know why everyone's skin was turning obsidian black and sloughing off their bones like sheets of rice paper. If ten men catch it, nine men die and the tenth languishes blind for the rest of his life."

"No cure?" asked the young woman in white armor.

"No ma'am," Odin answered. "You can vaccinate against it, but actually catch the stuff and you're gone. That's the problem... out in the more remote islands in the Orange chain, anywhere doctors don't usually go actually, the 'Bloody Pox' just waits to wipe out whole villages and catch a ride on an unsuspecting slouch back to civilization."

Taking a deep breath of the salty air, May resisted a shiver. "That's horrible. Have you ever seen it up close?"

Odin nodded. "I had the good fortune of being vaccinated young, so when the Pox hit my father's ship... I got to clean up the remains, sanitize the ship, and bring it into port."

Jaw slack, May stared at him. "Odin I'm so sorry, that must have been," she trailed off, a soreness stabbing into her chest as her companion stared without emotion at the horizon. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "That was this ship?"

Odin pointed across the deck of the ship towards the captain's quarters. "My father passed in that room there." He stopped as a look of horror spread across May's face. "Don't give it a second thought," he said. "I don't. Death's just as much a part of life as being born, no use worrying or dwelling."

May spent the rest of that first afternoon since the storm touring the Seaspear with Odin, assessing damage and gathering reports from the crewmen on their statuses. May left most of the talking to the young captain, perfectly content to allow the seaman to run the affairs aboard his own ship, though she made every effort to note the policies and procedures that came up during the tour.

Stopping in the engine room, a cramped and dim chamber crowded by cables running across the floor and filled with the smell of hot copper and iron, May watched as Odin addressed two of the frigate's engineers. He knows this ship like the back of his hand, May thought as Odin and the engineers exchanged a great deal of numbers and pointed to the cables running here and there before chattering on about power generation and thermal to electric efficiency.

Odin nodded, his face bearing a satisfied expression. "Excellent work keeping the salts from freezing during the storm," said the captain as the pair of crewmen saluted him. "I knew you boys were good but that's impressive. Let's focus on keeping the noble metal buildup in the pipes to an absolute minimum until we reach our next stop. Understood?"

Both engineers dropped their salutes enthusiastically. "Yes sir," they acknowledged.

May paused in her inspection of the engines and turned to the crewman, both of whom she noticed were watching her look around the room.

"Question ma'am?" the taller of the engineers probed, returning his hand to his chest to salute the young savant.

Her earlier conversation with Odin sticking in the front of her mind, May pointed to the massive engine cases that consumed most of the lower deck's floorspace. "Ensign Keller, wasn't it? Tell me about the engine," she said calmly, a subdued smile on her lips. "I'd like to know a little more about the Seaspear and how you keep it running."

The taller engineer, a burly character with a complexion like raw dough cleared his throat and glanced between the captain and the flotilla commander. "Yes ma'am," he said, visibly pulling himself together and beginning to motion to the massive cases. "Well basically Seaspear runs off an experimental Thorium reactor. It's specially designed for naval applications and calling it only top of the line would be an insult. The reactor itself started out as a proof-of-concept that the boss back in Viridian thought had enough potential to stick it on a boat and see how things went."

May followed along as Keller walked her to a display panel showing several numbers and red and green bar graphs that monitored the heat, pressure, and other variables within the engine. "Essentially," the engineer continued, "Seaspear was a great ship when Rocket co-developed it with the Orange Island Navy back in the day, but it was the modularity with which the ship was designed which made outfitting it with the LFTR power plant possible, and its the power plant that makes her absolutely amazing. Seaspear generates as much power as a small city, won't need to refuel for the next fifteen years, and has the capacity to serve as an emergency power supply for other vessels that lose power."

May nodded along. "Very impressive," she said, reaching out and shaking the engineer's hand after he very briefly paused as if to make sure his commander had actually extended the gesture. "I'll be joining the crew for meals this evening and I'd like very much to discuss Seaspear's potential to serve as a mobile base of operations then, assuming you'd eat with me," she added.

Keller nodded, a smile creeping across his features. "Yes ma'am," he said. "I'll save you a spot. Looking forward to it ma'am."

Both engineers saluted. May, as she and Odin turned to leave, heard them chattering amongst themselves with pleasant surprise that the flotilla's commander would bother to stop by and personally talk to them. The young savant looked to her companion as they ascended the ladder that carried them up to one of the upper decks. "How was that?" she called up to him as Odin lead on.

The sandy haired youth nodded and gave her a quick thumb's up as they reached the top of the ladder, finding themselves in a steel hall full of tightly clusters of doors. "A little awkward," he smiled at her, "but not bad. Keep it up and you'll win some friends yet."

May grinned and started to respond, but stopped short and froze as the sound of a horn blaring high overhead stopped her in her tracks. "One long blast," she muttered. "One short. A distressed ship in the vicinity?"

Odin turned and May walked quickly beside him towards the light at the end of the hall. "Odin," she said, wincing as she stepped back into the sunlight, "assemble the trainers and be ready for anything."

Again the horn sounded overhead, blown by a trainer soaring in circles over the Seaspear atop a Pidgeot. Some dozen people hustled about the deck of the ship as May split off from the captain, bound for the bow of the ship as Odin walked for the bridge. The young savant waited, her single pokeball in her hand as the Rocket trainer on the Pidgeot aimed his mount for the ship and descended towards her. Talons clattering, the massive bird landed on the Seaspear and its trainer, a young man in black and red, hopped down, still brandishing a bronze horn in one hand.

May walked forward as the trainer saluted. "Any particular reason you're using a horn like that over the perfectly good radio we issued you?" May looked the trainer over.

Straightening up as he fastened the archaic instrument to his belt. "No ma'am," he said abruptly, tapping the little earpiece clipped to the side of his head with one thumb. "I radioed several times but no one responded. There's some kind of interference."

May nodded. "Acknowledged," she said as a number of other crewman arrived. "What did you see?"

The trainer, armored from his neck to his boots, walked to the ship's railing and pointed at a spot on the horizon. "We've got one ship dead in the water, about nine miles out. From bow to stern she's maybe two hundred meters long and I didn't see any structural damage."

May raised an eyebrow. "Big-ass ship," she said. "Anyone onboard?"

The trainer shook his head. "Not that I saw on a flyby ma'am," he said. "Just a dead ship."

Both the scout and the savant turned as Odin and another officer arrived, though the captain spoke first. "Radios are down," he said, out of breath. "There's some kind of interference," he looked around at the other officers and trainers around him. "Nobody stopped to think that, maybe, I would have liked to know that something as important as my radios being down."

The officer walking beside the captain cleared his throat, stonefaced. "Sorry sir, they went down less than fifteen minutes ago."

Everyone present at the bow of the ship flinched and several cursed beneath their breaths as sharp chirps sounded over their radio earpieces and most of those around, including May, tore the tools from their ears and held them aside. Before anyone could speak, a loud thumping shook the ship. May turned and looked at the vessels surrounding the Seaspear as their bridge lights dimmed and flickered out. All around her the shouting voices of crewman rose and fell, declaring that they were losing power. Odin immediately began barking orders and his subordinates responded with disciplined and quick actions, hustling about readying to disseminate as much as information to the other ships as possible.

Watching the bridge lights onboard the Seaspear, May remained fixed on the deck, unmoving and breathing only a little as the incandescent bulbs inside the ship's command center continued glowing. As several minutes passed and a number of messengers arrived onboard the Seaspear from the other ships in the flotilla as each captain sought to figure out the situation, May kept watching, waiting to see if the bridge lights would go out. "Why aren't we losing power?" she asked at length.

Odin stopped in the middle of relaying an order, looking between May and the bridge. "I don't know," he said, voice shot through with worry. "I've never seen anything like this before. Everyone's telling me the other ships, all of them, have completely lost power. We're dead in the water right now."

May shook her head. "We're not," she said. "Odin," she went on, "what do you want to bet that the radios going dead and the flotilla going cold are related to that other ship out there?"

The young captain paused and looked between the horizon and the lazily descending sun. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

May looked to the speck jutting up out of the ocean some miles ahead and stared at it for a long moment, her mind turning over. "Something's out there," she muttered, glancing to the scout trainer. "Did you see the colours the ship flew?" she asked.

Clasping his hands behind his back, the scout shook his head. "No ma'am," he answered. "No colours, no crew, no nothing. The ship looks like a Cinnabarean make though."

Odin and May exchanged glances. The young savant nodded towards the dead ship. "Let's go have a look."


End file.
